Limitless Uranium-235 with KOVAREX Enrichment Process | Factorio Tutorial/Guide/How-to

[@Nilaus]

All Master Class Blueprints are available on FactorioBin Overview and direct links to all Blueprints: nilaus.atlassian.net/l/cp/HBEUm524 (Pastebin links no longer work)

[@Anonymous-dk5qu]

@Nilaus I disagree with your design choice to limit a buffer of 40 U-235. I think you would be better off waiting a bit longer and letting the buffer of the centrifuge fill up fully so that the machine is always going to run afterwards without any pauses.

[@pauljs75]

Once you have Kovarex going, about 5 - 10% of that is all that is needed for baseline power. The rest is for going out and entertaining the biters.

[@expressowo4485]

i want to like but not break the 69 likes. take this comment as a like

[@mizu_retaw]

I want to like but not break the 96 likes So here's a imaginary like

[@lolxdrandomman69]

I want to like but not break the 128 likes Take this comment as a like

[@Murasame13]

I broke the 140 likes and its now 141.

[@nathanj2439]

​@@Murasame13you monster

[@tomo9126]

Tip: Watch the first half of the video at 1.5x speed. The second half at 0.75 speed.

[@pauljs75]

And turn up the volume to 150% to hear it, and that's with headphones. (Not sure why it's recorded so quiet.)

[@bqwood]

yeah, that circuit stuff was rushed through with so many fast clicks.... will definitely need to slow this down... nice build though!

[@aetherferrum2146]

@InSomnia DrEvil and the first part at .25x speed to have a nice nap :)

[@FDGuerin]

The 3 basic sizes of Kovarex setups: - Normal reactor (1 centrifuge, no modules) - Megabase reactor (1 centrifuge, fully beaconed and moduled) - haha forest go boom (anything bigger)

[@GlizzyTrefoil]

Reminds me of the Kardashev Scale.

[@canebro1]

Trees are the true enemy

[@eralcen]

Now my map is full of dark oval spots

[@achtsekundenfurz7876]

This episode is sponsored by: _N U K E_ _Just do it_

[@axelfirekirby]

Me who built 5: ... hmmm

[@spc-tr]

@Nilaus, if you set the hand stack size of the left inserters (green and white) to 10, it won't go to 41 anymore since 10 is a multiple of 40.

[@-A.O-]

8 should work too since 40 is a multiple of 8 too..

[@danielbuege1]

I never would have thought to just reinsert the 235 back into the same centrifuge. I am once again blown away by the creativity.

[@PacificPounding]

jesus christ i have been planning a setup and this just now struck me. thank you for commenting xD

[@jakop0815]

Actually you can build a kovarex with no combinators and no extra spend resources in the loop . You just need a inserter with stacksize one, activated when a stackinserter removes u238 . Since only 2 u238 will get produced the condition is only true once for each cycle . Also the stackinserter will always remove u238 fervor to u235

[@billrich9722]

“Actually.”

[@Lachy474]

Instead of doing it with the complicated combinator thing, you can achieve the same results by just controlling stack sizes. Have the output of U-235 go into a chest using a stack inserter set to 10. Have another stack inserter take it out also set to 10 and feed that back into the centrifuge. Set a condition that only allows it to pick up when the chest contains 10 or more U-235. Set a third fast inserter with a stack size forced to one to only pick up when the U-235 in the chest is equal to 1, and that’s your output.

[@rngrtt3689]

That's how I did it first, this works.

[@Murasame13]

Dang good point! Way more simple.

[@Murasame13]

I just tried this and the output does NOT work perfectly unless you remove the productivity modules. It eventually stops itself because the productivity will give you 2 235 and the "equal to 1" condition is no longer applicable. It works, but not perfectly.

[@Murasame13]

Seems like chnaging the output inserter to "U-235 = 2" fixes the issue about productivity.

[@ivanlagayacrus1891]

@@Murasame13 couldnt you also write the condition as just

[@GopeScopeGaming]

"Going from 1 uranium every 60 seconds to 1.2 uranium every 60 seconds is a pretty good deal... it's... you guessed it: 20% improved productivity... Great Work!" I lost it. Thanks for all the great videos Nilaus!

[@ricouxstephane1628]

Great and easy-to-implement logic for the 2nd build - I usually use an intermediate chest connected to filtered stack inserters (as seen many times in other builds). Your trick is easier to design. Thanks a lot !

[@TheObsidianWarlock]

That is a very lightweight circuit. Good stuff!

[@peterspenard8175]

As have never gotten to oil in my personal game, this comment hurts lol

[@beanstalk1309]

This was a GODSEND. Thank you so much Nilaus--one-stop-shop to feel smarter and become a better engineer!

[@uacgaugtfkt441]

I thought you had learned you weren't a capable engineer after giving up on that major. Nice catfish picture btw

[@jamesdowell5268]

@@uacgaugtfkt441 This comment is sad and cringeworthy and you should feel bad

[@anon1963]

​@@jamesdowell5268 nah bro playing Factorio and doing basic logic doesn't make you an engineer

[@GleebyDeebyEeby]

​@@anon1963I think op meant engineer as in factorio. Since you play as the factorio engineer.

[@SidCypher]

If you don't mind having one centrifuge that doesn't do anything, you can kickstart refinement with just a pair that feeds each other directly, just supply them with U-238 until they top up.

[@any1alive]

that is smart :D

[@toxicbubble5]

I prefer this variation on the design, which uses an additional arithmetic combinator, and swaps the decider for an arithmetic. It's slightly more complex, but has these advantages: 1) Easier to seed, simply put the amount you want in the system (anywhere between 40-80 U-235) into the input of the centrifuge. 2) System will always maintain the total cumulative amount of U-235 you've manually placed in the input and will expel any surplus into the output chest. Seeding with 80 U-235 allows 100% uptime on processing, or you can start with 40 as soon as you have it then add additional 40 as you get it into the system to reduce the downtime between cycles. Just drop extra into the input of the machine as you desire. 3) No surplus U-235 sitting on belt unused, it's all either in input buffer waiting to start the next production cycle immediately, or it's put into the output chest 4) No splitter priority shenanigans to remove extra from the system, it's 100% circuit controlled by counting inputs/outputs. 5) Almost(?) never accidentally overfills centrifuge above the initial seeded amount (like was seen in this video) because of number 4 and the separation between measuring output and input inserters. It's based on the idea of adding the negative value of U-235 we take out of the centrifuge as well as a negative of what leaves the system (into output chest). The result should always maintain a net 0 between productions cycles. Using negatives simplifies the wiring color separation for the condition/read mode so we can use a single wire to the yellow inserter. All additions (including of negative numbers) are done directly on the wire. Output is limited by the logistics network total U-235 amount so you won't overproduce. Blueprint: 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

[@E-102_Gamma]

I just gave your blueprint a try and found that it doesn't work. I put 40 U-235 into the Centrifuge, and it immediately stalled after completing one cycle. The Stack Filter Inserter refuses to take any U-235 out of the Centrifuge, with a status of "Disabled by control behavior," even though its mode of operation is set to "None."

[@toxicbubble5]

@@E-102_Gamma Sorry it's been several months, but because it uses logistics system to read contents, the logistics chests must be in range of a roboport or you'll see the behavior you did. Probably should have specified that.

[@E-102_Gamma]

@@toxicbubble5 Hey, better late than never, right? Well, thank you for clarifying.

[@jaredbissenden6230]

If you set the stack override size to 10 on the stack inserter you don't get the tick issue with the 41

[@iIiWARHEADiIi]

Counter also count 41. with the next reset signal you get 1 in the counter and inserter will insert this time only 39

[@etsaorned]

I had no idea the beacons were that effective! Im going to use them a lot more often from now on. Thanks for sharing!

[@Eye_Exist]

whoever originally designed this, god bless you.

[@gabrielbalsa1843]

Excellent! Just started with Factorio last week and I'm hooked, thank you for this masterclass, very very informative

[@Logiwonk]

Really helpful build! Also, learned a lot about how to make a counter and reset it. Thanks!

[@megaslayermurray8674]

I am enjoying these factorio master class videos thanks @Nilaus

[@oconnor663]

You mention that picking up the centrifuge risks destroying 40 uranium, but I don't think it works that way anymore. Not sure what version fixed it, but it was before 1.0. Now we don't have to worry about this footgun.

[@willb5278]

20:50 Setting the stack size to 10 should fix that right? Then the 1 tick it takes to calculate/transmit happens while the inserter is swinging. 4x10 is 40, 3x12 < 40 Same number of inserter swings.

[@cshairydude]

Be sure to do that for both input and output, or the belt will back up prematurely.

[@robertharald4622]

I just LOVE this circuit design, but be careful if you set it up before you have your power needs met :D I setup 4 of these and they went out multiple times, scratched my head, then I realized I had several brownouts in the meantime which seems to mess up the circuits, so had to manually reset them when this happens...

[@GlizzyTrefoil]

with 80 U-235 per centrifuge it will run continuously. Production speeds with 12 beacons are 8.04 with Prod3 modules or 8 with Speed3 modules.

[@frozenheartedgiant8330]

Dude, that circuit was so elegant, definitely going to set that up myself

[@spc-tr]

Last comment: the circuit build doesn't work with red belts, i think that because of red belts being slower, the stack inserters decide to swing without a full hand or something and it causes the items to pile up and end up on the wrong side of the splitter. This happens after 2 or 3 iterations. So you may want to update the blueprint on pastebin (nuclear masterclass one) to blue belts

[@dr.davidmoore6215]

It works with red belts if you limit the output 235 inserter stack size to 5 .. that forces it to make more swings, which seems to give the top inserter enough time to swing and alleviate the jamming problem with the splitter. Note that I also set the input 235 inserter to have a stack size of 10, to avoid the off-by-one issues.

[@Leonikal]

It’s been working just fine with the red belts so far

[@MutantParsleY]

This master class series is the best!

[@Felinaro]

You could limit stack size on picking up inserter to 10 (or 5, any divisor of 40), so it will swing instead of picking up 41th uranium. Outserter in this case should be limited also, to not cause backlog.

[@derekexplosion]

cant wait for the circuit class!

[@mobius1qwe]

If you want a count-perfect one, set the first decider combinator to anything < 39 | output u-235 so it'll count to 40 including the math tick. Since you're doing -20 * hand contents that has 2, you will then have a -40 on output so it'll be 0 on the combinator allowing the input inserter to swing again.

[@petkras]

Doesn't this risk stopping at 39, and require a manual restart? Might want to add a second circuit to check for that problem.

[@mobius1qwe]

@@petkras it doesn't, because the inserter Will grab 10 when the tick reads 30, so it'll be 40 total

[@acheron16]

Me: I don't fear complicated builds. But that thing... *Points at Circuit Network control* Me: It scares me...

[@windflier1684]

If you get into the Circuit network , this one is actually pretty simple.

[@sunrisetenshi1054]

@InSomnia DrEvil Covarex process unbalanced a BIT. But endless energy is so great..

[@colto2312]

Requester chest w/ request of one; have stack inserter operate @ stacksize of one. expand operations when it's going consistently; done.

[@filipeoliveira3815]

Thank you Nilaus ! I've watched a lot of your masterclasses and playthroughs and i've learned a lot! Inspired by your design on Kovarex enrichment i've done something similar but without belts on the Uranium 235 side. I'm using steel chest instead. I have a slow yellow inserter set to stacks of 1 with a condition to activate only when there's more than 10 uranium 235 in the chest, that's my uranium profits , for continuing the process i have a stack inserter pulling from the same chest set to stacks of ten. Since the yellow is much slower it cant keep up with the stack inserter and only takes 1, or 2 (if there's productivity bonus) i've ran a few test and this hasnt failed yet so i believe its a simpler design. Nevertheless credits to you and your teaching without wich i wouldnt be able to think of this :D keep up the great work !

[@filipeoliveira3815]

Nevermind. It already failed xD I'll have to think of something else. And this is what its so great about factorio :D

[@Red_Wolf04]

20:10 there is no tick of calculation that causes the 1 extra to be picked up, the machine does what you tell it to do. you tell it to stop picking up uranium when the amount is higher then 40 (uranium > 40) lowering the amount to 39 wil solve this issue or changing the uranium > 40 to uranium ≥ 40

[@markizano]

There's another video by @JDPlays that's higher than this one in the search results (as of this comment). I downvoted his video and upvoted this one because this is succinct, compact and explains well how this setup works. Whatever the heck that other guy is doing makes me bored quickly and doesn't teach me how to do stuff. I really appreciate how you explained the setup from start to finish and stayed focused on the topic at hand rather than toying with the game halfway thru the session like he does. I don't mean to compare too harshly, but the fact is there: You did great here Nilaus!! Even years later, this is relevant because people like me are discovering Factorio and learning all the fun things it has to offer! Thanks so much! \o/

[@mathew0172]

i was looking for this, Thanks!!

[@codesymphony]

glorious. never thought about not connecting all the good uranium belts, because they're self sufficient

[@StephanTrube]

Circuit build advantage: Makes excess available as soon as possible. It's drawback: It pauses each cycle. First build advantage: It never stops. It's drawback: Takes a long time to provide excess. So the more time you give it, the better becomes the build without circuits, as it doesn't pause. The advantage of the circuit build is really only meaningful at the "early" game, where it saves you from picking up excess manually.

[@hds66nl29]

I have made something that runs on 40/80 U235, put in manually. The excess U235 is filtered out, 1 or 2 U235. No delays, no excess U235 in the system. Uses productivity modules and beacons with speed modules. I also built in a few fail-safes so cutting of power or power shortage doesn't affect it. When the output belt is full the system stops, belt clear starts up again. Been running it for a while now and encountered no problems (so far). The blueprint is added. 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

[@Choonsey]

For anyone having issues w/ the U235 inserter not inserting enough and or a few U235 being siphoned off early, set the override stack size on it to 10. When it grabs handfuls that don't multiply up to 40 I have seen issues arise with maintaining sufficient inputs to keep the centrifuge happy.

[@SYKMSATMWIB]

I just wanted to post and say your comment helped me out. I couldn't get things to work as expected, no matter what I changed. Changing it to override the stack size to 10 fixed it immediately. Thanks for sharing the info.

[@Hedning1390]

I like kovarex, because I think there is more room for creativity than many other builds. My kovarex uses a pair. The 40 u235 is transferred between them with stack inserters. The u238 is dropped by a filter inserter and taken using a fast inserter on a belt which is looped and refilled by belt coming from miners. The 1 extra plus the one from productivity is dealt done by a filter inserter controlled by combinators: -To control the stack size I have one combinator to count (10 u238 taken out), one combinator to output a "1" on that 5th cycle and one constant to change it to 1 and 2 instead of 0 and 1 -To control the enable I have one combinator that separates the counter signal from the pulse so I can still use the pulse.

[@Jaepeg]

The timing on this episode could NOT have been more perfect for me, thank you!

[@billrich9722]

That’s interesting. I set mine up in a chain. Centrifuge > requestor box > centrifuge etc. one of the requesters has a provider and a sorter arm programmed to pull U-235 when there is over 400 in the box. The chained requestors will be refilled with, like, 200 U-238 to keep things moving. I think I have eight in the chain. Works pretty good.

[@agentchunk55]

@20:50 its not because of game ticks its because the stacker picks up to twelve at a time. The reason it's not 48 is they didn't all get the the stacker in time. You could limit it by setting stack size with circuits, but that's more complicated

[@timothykie7833]

Great vid. Thanks. I found that I had to time the inserter that removes the 235 from the splitter so it would only take 2, possibly because I did not use blue belts/splitter. Cheers! Edit: deleted last edit, oops.

[@jonathanrichards593]

I've just tried to build the 12-beacon circuit-driven design in an admittedly mod-rich environment, so maybe one of those is affecting behaviour, but I find that the top-left inserter, putting U-235 into the centrifuge, does not begin to swing until the centrifuge has been emptied. It sits there in the "Waiting for space in destination" state, until all the U-235 product has been taken out. There is not enough belt storage for the centrifuge to empty entirely, though, and so the splitter "overflows", taking out more than just the one U-235 produced in that cycle. This is Factorio version 1.1.80 on Steam/Linux.

[@canebro1]

I like this a lot. An alternative to using a fast inserter to input 235 would be to limit the stack size of a stack inserter. Also, I would look at limiting (or setting up an alarm) the 235 to only run kovarex if you have enough in the logistic system. You don't want to accidentally be sitting there with thousands of -238 but not enough 235- 235 but not enough 238 to make fuel cells. Restarting nuclear power by hand is a pain. EDIT: had 235 and 238 flipped

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

I think you got 238 and 235 the wrong way around. 235 is the good one.

[@canebro1]

@@thewhitefalcon8539 Thanks, fixed now. FYI you do still need 238 to make fuel cells, and I did have a run where kovarex ran through all my 238 and I ran out of power...

[@MuhammedGemci]

@@canebro1 prioritizing fuel cell production using splitters would be a good way to limit Kovarex when you don't have enough 238 for everything. I think the priority should be Fuel Cells > Kovarex > Military > Others.

[@canebro1]

@@MuhammedGemci This is true, I was meaning that if you let kovarex run without any limits, you could end up turning all of your 238 into 235, and not be able to make fuel cells.

[@Kolorotur]

This can be simplified to use only two wires and zero combinators. 1. Connect a fast inserter to the middle belt. 2. Set belt mode to only read contents/hold 3. Set inserter enabled condition to U-235 = 1 4. Connect output U-235 stack filter inserter to the storage chest 5. Set enabled condition on the output inserter to 4.8K or however many U-235s should be stored in the chest. 6. Limit stack size to 10 on the output U-235 inserter. Blueprint: 0eNrFV9uOmzAQ/Rc/wwpzT9R+SRUhByYba7nVNlG2K/69Y9glaWISLlL3JcR4mDNz5mZ/kH3eQC14qcj2g/C0KiXZ/vogkr+WLNfv1HsNZEu4goJYpGSFXu2BoShpLcLLDM5kS9udRaBUXHHoNXSL96Rsij0IFLj91iJ1JVEc/yIKqrA9Sl8Ci7zj39h/CbRyBJV6W9YAmV1UWZOD7ZGt27bWHYQ7AcKJV0F4UyD8VRD+FIh1RAXzYkEXQITzvFgCEQ0QUrH0zealBKFw53HYnQ4q4wLSXgRNRQOVqPJkD0d24pXQ36VcpA1XCe5lg7IDF1IlT4qjEazkTWG7XqArRNeUYrrAqOPoZVEzwZRGIT86gU8k9BeS6pBUNeB+h+iZHI8HJDjXAqS0FSLKuhLK3kOujARs/iHAoHUzaE1xR/BD8wpGTeGXpmjTUYlE8o6Ft+rEBJxtKAVPjwVqsWtRpWgguYotvsoapP6E4M9CTJ3BqAPPMbaPg+wvDrKJ+ktgBLAsObIy08mg0EZ0RIkGEKI3q+94X63QkAgxaXcm/+iSUHrjbvomEHdWuUfRglqkl8aYV69cKp7a6REkZgCTkp9AZ8KJZ+bAXYH3KYVGlr1LnQlU/wjIrucKxxUNkFWjOZcmemBoxKOsoc4N+BWd7v9rDTeN4SdpZ/AQah4sUp1ACCQ56Roi2vIH9GQ28BPc9M4p1TW00Cj+Pp782NRDZ1Dl9VRNrFtE343x6piIDVf15kv6j3IJJdvnkGRc6ifZHlgu4Xmrsq6D0b3vRXXj63JkMoH+WM1F61yPv8d1x+hLPL1/XKaOoS5MujdLeHLHm1RoOgo7qwbLPYhpsLjrptc9XUYQd9ZJctH0ckenl4DfDT5HIu/cnYQ66WTyoUDne/N5MjQeENwZg8yhDwaZSfe8a0C06EoWzrqTLcOIZl3KlmHE87LwOcau39YKhxu4RXDQyD5gMfUjfxOFEXXCIGzbvxaFLWU= I also prefer to use passive providers for Covarex and storage chests or active providers for U-Processing outputs. Since storage chests are prioritized over the passive providers, bots will empty them first, ensuring the uranium belts don't get blocked because U-235 can't be picked from them (like that ever happens).

[@temperedfox]

Does this work with productivity? I've left it running a while and the storage of the centrifuge keeps increasing as each productivity goes off until it stalls?

[@jayjasespud]

This will fail when productivity spits out out 2 instead of 1, won't it?

[@Ergzay]

This doesn't work.

[@SteveBurnap]

I found that if you use boxes on the output instead of a belt, it's simpler and easy to make reliable. Set the stack size of a filtered U235 inserter to 10 into a box . Have another inserter with stack size 10 insert from there into a second box with a condition to only operate >=10. Then have an inserter moving that back into the centrifuge. Have a final inserter pull from the box to a belt only if the contents % 10 != 0 (using an arithmetic combinator). (So it isn't on if the box is empty, which means the stack 10 inserter always wins.) If you put 40 U235 into the input, this always keeps exactly 40 U235 occupied, with a slight transfer delay. Later, if you add exactly 40 more, it works the same, but with no delay for the transfer.

[@bryanmartin2434]

Could you just take the enriched output, multiple that by -1 and then send that back to the input inserter? Edit I'm just realized, if it produces 1 extra enriched ore, you'll slowly trend to a negative number and eventually have the same problem where all your ore is tied up in the machine waiting to be processed.

[@Nilaus]

+ productivity bonus It would be very difficult to keep it correct

[@bryanmartin2434]

@@Nilaus ah I hadn't considered that either.

[@lefeal9707]

Why productivity modules over speed modules? assuming you have plenty of dull uranium to feed it.

[@doktorcool3740]

Previously I used some nifty circuit logic myself on this, but since quite a while I'm just happy with the right (circuit-less) solution despite the extra 40 U235 per processing plant. I start with just one or two (depending on the amount of U235 avaiable), let it fill itself up, then (upon a later visit) add a 2nd/3rd/4th/... processing plant and maybe add extra U235 (from the centrifuges) to the cycle and so on. Works good enough without modules (or with weaker modules and/or less beacons) too. Sure it's slower, but by the time the Kovarex process is researched, I usually have way more than 40 U235 stockpiled and gain more than enough to feed my reactors.

[@georgewillow112]

Nilaus, I just wanna say that your "efficient" Kovarex Enrichment Process doesn't work unless you're using blue belts and a blue splitter (as you did in the video). The default design of yours uses red belts and red splitters, and after a while (I just built it), you'll lose 1 uranium-235 to the chest, because the splitter doesn't let the items through fast enough, so it get stucks for a second, and in that second one or two or three uranium-235 go into the chest (which is usually one too many), and thus after a few rotations, the process will stop because there'll only be 39/40 uranium-235 in the centrifuge. So you HAVE to use blue belts and a blue splitter for the efficient design, otherwise just use the "inefficient" one that he shown first in the video (haven't tested that though but it should work). I'm not sure if that was an oversight or not, but since you said multiple people tested it along with you and it worked, that seems like a lie, since I literally just now took the blueprint and slapped down the default design with the red belts and a red splitter and it didn't work. Your testers seem to not really be testing anything.

[@Terminarch]

There's enough space around the centrifuge to wrap slow belts for extra tiles of belt space storage. Problem solved. Does that negate the purpose? Yeah, a little bit. Definite design oversight.

[@georgewillow112]

@@Terminarch Oh absolutely, I wasn't blaming him or anything, I just stated that you need blue belts and a blue splitter, because he claimed in the video you can do this with any belts/splitter. And that if people test things for him, maybe they should test a little better. :P

[@system2048]

i copied the design but used red belts and splitters, since i do not have blue splitters and belts yet, i was able to modify it using a belt reader, and control the output purple filter inserter, to get one on every cycle. i initially thought Nilaus' design had a flaw, but since he was using blue belts and splitters which were faster, i had to compensate for that since i was using red belts and slpitters.

[@dr.davidmoore6215]

@@system2048 just limit the output inserter stack size to 5

[@karl2673]

For red belt you can have the stack inserter be at stack size 8 max, anything above 8 breaks it. With blue belts you can have it at the full 12 stack size. I've discovered this completely by accident. I built the setup when I had stack inserters at 8 stack size and it was running for a good while without issues, but when I researched the next capacity bonus it quickly broke. After some testing I got to this conclusion.

[@jessehunter7197]

I played for so long without trying nuclear and I really regret it. Nuclear is just so much fun to build.

[@pmkaboo2446]

another alternative is to output with white inserter onto a belt, from there grab it with a stack inserter with stack size >1 into any non logistic chest, and from that chest have stack inserter with stack size =10 insert back into the centrifuge if there is >10 u235 in the chest, and with any inserter take out into a logistics chest if there is 1 u235. it takes a bit more space, one extra any chest and one extra any inserter, but no circuit magic is required, aside of reading contents of a chest to enable/disable inserters.

[@Arthzil]

Not sure why, but the linked recipe book actually has a steel box instead of network box so some assembly required.

[@anselmt8719]

I've had an issue with the top left inserter always leaving one or two U-235 behind on the belt breaking the cycle every 2-5 loops, replacing the red belts and splitter from the blueprint to blue ones fixed it somehow.

[@nzeusman8215]

Thx Nilaus, i like your passion for the game.

[@EthanAbate]

Can you link the blueprint book for these builds? It didn't make it into the description and I wasn't sure where to find it on your website. Thanks for the great videos and designs!

[@nickult]

I found a blueprint once with a build that worked with only a wire, a condition and a limit on one inserter. Specifically an output with stack limited of 1 u235 (the excess) that triggered on the only one full stack output of u238. i believe it was with boxes for the instant move instead of belts but it would steadily always place the excess into another box with not even a single extra u235 in the centrifuge. There was a catch however. It could not account for the bonus of productivity modules as it wouldnt trigger because the bonus is only a u235 but you could still speed it up a ton

[@hds66nl29]

Funny, I have made something similar, a few chests and inserters, inserts 40 U238 (or 80) and it goes and the 1 extra gets filtered out, I recently changed it to deal with the productivety module. Was a bit of a challenge, but made something that works. Maybe not the most elegant, but it works.

[@NickBair316]

For the circuit driven processing I seem to be having an issue with the splitter possibly. I am not ending up with enough Uranium-235 to run another round. I end up short by several Uranium-235 and then have to wait for more.

[@kierans777]

I had this problem with the blueprint for the 4 beacon version. I fixed it by upgrading the belts from red to blue. That way the left hand side inserter didn't get a change to take and 235 until I got a backup of 5 items.

[@Ben-e2f4m]

just got into koverex, first time ive ever experimented with beacons, turns out without any prior knowledge i made a very similar setup and it could arguably be called better as it doesnt even need circuts

[@alekmoth]

An even simpler system is to output the light green to a belt, belt it to a box, input limit 5 into box and 5 out of box back into the system, output limited 1 when 1 in box out of box and out of the system. No circuits needed, only filter stackinserters that can be limited and enabled when there is a specific amount in the box

[@sebbenforte]

What do you do with all the extra uranium 238 being generated by centrifuges processing uranium ore?

[@spc-tr]

@Nilaus, you mention that the blueprint is available in the description, but it isn't

[@Nilaus]

Added now to description: pastebin.com/QEJBwdXL

[@liquidfish4873]

Works wonderfully, thank you

[@StormCrow42]

In 18.26 they made a change such that deconstructing running furnaces and assembly machines should return their ingredients to the player's inventory (or to the bot that deconstructed them I think). "Changed default value of return_ingredients_on_change property of furnaces, assembling machines and rocket silo to 'true'. "

[@VladTheImploded]

Did I hear you right that 1 beaconed kovarex process can support 375 nuclear reactors? That kind of blows my mind.

[@No0bZai96]

Second method is actually brilliant. Thats how programming work

[@bassPindaHouse]

juuuust at the right time!! I was about to start this in my base today!

[@jayw350]

Curious. Since the first combinator randomly outputs a signal of 41 instead of 40 and the second combinator always puts out a signal of -40, won't the first combinator eventually tick up high enough because of the residuals that it eventually causes the connected inserter to stop functioning altogether? If so, how do you cope with that?

[@johnturner7790]

It's self-correcting. Once it gets high enough, there will be 1 less swing to load the machine and it drops back to 40.

[@amateurishauthor2202]

Hey Nilus, I made an 'improved' version of your wired enrichment build (as shown in the last bits of the video), you don't need to wait for the belt to fill up before you can start storing them

[@CaptainDavidius]

I stamped down the fully beaconed setup and I noticed the counting logic would occasionally set my centrifuge one short (also known as dead). I fixed this by changing the setting on the inserter itself from 40 to 41. Due to the automatic reset, this is still successful at reducing dead uranium which is doing nothing.

[@John-yk4bp]

Couldn't you override the stack size on the inserter you say "must be blue". Not that it would change much

[@KaWumsBums]

great video, thank you

[@tonyfroggie]

Hello I am greatful for all of your factorio videos. I was wondering if you ever thought of doing a masterclass for bobs and angels? Thank you again

[@marg0tten]

just put the counter to 39 :< will take 40. circuits always start counting on zero. puttin 40 into it has the value of 41. with your reset both works, but makes it so strange.

[@catrielmarignaclionti4518]

no, if you put it to 40, it will count how many there are in the system, so, if there is a +1, the inserter does 1 less swing the next round, self correcting

[@marg0tten]

@@catrielmarignaclionti4518 thats not how it works. dont say no without any proof.

[@catrielmarignaclionti4518]

@@marg0tten its literally how it works, test it.

[@marg0tten]

its not

[@Blynx1991]

Your videos could all be condensed down to 5 minutes. I'm really here listening to you say the same thing in a different way for the third time in so many videos. If your aim is to encourage people to just learn it themselves, mission accomplished.

[@JasonAWilliams-IS]

The inserters that put the dark green uranium into the system need to be conditioned such that they only swing as long as X dark greens are still in the logistic network. Otherwise you will turn all your dark greens into light greens and not be able to build nuclear fuel cells.

[@mobius1qwe]

in that case, just extract more uranium and do the normal process to generate more u238

[@Murasame13]

U238 is far too common for this to be ANY concern at all. Currently I've got a few hundred uranium fuel cells and the amount of U238 I currently have is disgusting. Thousands and thousands of U238 currently waiting to be processed into U235. Not to mention, since I am using flame turrets and laser turrets, I have pretty much no use for the U238 at all. Furthermore Nuclear fuel cells, when spent, will be able to be reprocessed back into U238. So, really, the only way you'd EVER run out of U238 for this process is if you stop mining uranium entirely.. which doesn't make much sense.

[@redsubmarine652]

Does anyone know how many reactors can a single centrifuge with prod modules and the max amount of speed beacons support? He prolly says it in the vid but I am not watching it, I know how kovarex works

[@jayward8943]

Fully beaconed and moduled it was over 200.

[@XplosivDS]

11:30

[@bassPindaHouse]

@@XplosivDS actually 25:46, he asked for the single centrifuge setup. 1 centrifuge feeds up to 375 reactors if the setup is runing 100%

[@maxleveladventures]

Why does multiplying the output by -20 work? Shouldn't it get multiplied from 40 to -800, then to 16,000? The result in game is adding -20, not multiplying. I'm really confused. Edit: Oh, I finally see what's going on. It's multiplying the 2 pulses of U238 by -20, then adding that value (-20*2) to the sum of the U235 value (40), essentially 40-40 to zero it out. It took me way too long to figure that out 😅

[@adrianhutchins7493]

very helpful,, Nilaus. Thank you :)

[@EvilNecroid]

so after u process the uranium ore can u just feed that into this thing or does it have to stay separate to avoid it backing up?

[@satd33p]

Could you do the train guide again in detail. I saw your last guide and am still confused as to how the signals work. A more noob-friendly guide would go a long way for us noobs here. As always, thanks for all the awesome content you put up.

[@Nilaus]

I cannot make it simpler than my previous train video. Some topics require some complexity. Maybe someone else can...

[@satd33p]

@@Nilaus I understand...thanks again for all the content...

[@dogbarian8280]

Satdeep Singh from one noob to another, the best thing to remember about signals: use a chain signal immediately in front of an intersection (whether that is a fork or a crossing rail), and then use a normal signal far enough past the intersection for your train to fit, and not block the intersection. If you have a 2nd intersection before there is enough room to “park”, that should be a chain signal as well. Another good place to use a normal signal is right before and right after your stations (as long as the one before the station leaves enough parking distance). Hope this helps, it’s been working for me!

[@Nortonius_]

Incredible design. Even an agile design, one might say 😂 Thanks again for your insight and creativity!

[@Fengtos]

I don't get the first setup though. I build it but how will you ever have overproduction in your chest? The grabbers constantly grab everything

[@Murasame13]

Just takes time.

[@theteadude3945]

but how to transport just 1 u235 to fuel cell factory and use rest 40 for kovarex?

[@Nilaus]

do it the other way around; saturate the Kovarex and then any excess can be used for Fuel and Bombs.

[@hds66nl29]

@@Nilaus Posted my blueprint on an other comment, but I have made something that runs on 40/80 U235, put in manually. The excess U235 is filtered out, 1 or 2 U235. No delays, no excess U235 in the system. Uses productivity modules and beacons with speed modules. I also built in a few fail-safes so cutting of power or power shortage doesn't affect it. When the output belt is full the system stops, belt clear starts up again. Been running it for a while now and encountered no problems (so far). The blueprint is added. 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

[@timothyosborn637]

I typically want 80 235 in the processor because i want to save the 3 seconds for the process to start again.

[@vojtechsejkora1554]

Why the production modules work? They stop working in this recepy i think for 0.17 and now i 1.0 work again? :-o

[@pletiplot]

Interesting fact: Kovarex is nickname of the main programer of Factorio - Michal Kovařík. However in real world there is no process how to convert U238 to U235. IRL U238 can be bombarded by neutrons which converts it to Plutonium 239 and this can be used in nukes and nuclear plants too.

[@LanceThumping]

It's probably a stop-gap process so that they don't have to (at least yet) try and implement a huge number of side products to make an insanely complicated chain for producing nuclear fuel.

[@pletiplot]

@@LanceThumping Kovarex himself told in some interview that the joy of playing had precedence before realism. And this is. However they are mods which introduce neutron bombardment of U238 for gaining plutonium or creating plutonium as a nuclear fission product and some really hard mods needs you to gain fluoric acid for making uranium hexafluorid which is a toxic gas in temperature over 60°C and is the real matter for centrifugation. And then reducing back from fluorid to Uranium.

[@vlodek69]

Just as a side note, it is fairly common to have industrial processes named after its inventors

[@ccrpalex2456]

so much for "Let me look this up so I can quickly set up nuclear power"

[@vojtechsejkora1554]

It could be i little better when you use one more inserter directly access to centrifuge and output directly to chest everytime when counter is 40 or more. Also it needs to connect output to belt and output only if counter is less then 40 and count this output not input :-) and change stack size to 10.

[@korayizci]

Blueprint plsssss! :( and could someone pls explain the logic of reseting the combinators?

[@carlossouzaamorim]

The values on the network are added to inform a single value for a symbol. The -40 informed by the aritmetic combinator for U235 value is added to the current 41 of the decider so the current value for U235 resets to 1.

[@MarkMcDaniel]

Such a missed opportunity that the game developers didn't add a simple checkbox to stop the inserters from pulling more materials into a centrifuge than that which it immediately needs to do the Kovarex process.

[@melind82]

I've never been a huge fan of the ones that pull out 1 every cycle. They normally sit idle 20% of the time while reloading.

[@johnturner7790]

@InSomnia DrEvil if the loading stack inserter is set to

[@Snoogen11]

"So we can purge the natives from OUR planet!" *British Imperialism INTENSIFIES!!!*

[@drcrowmd6494]

I was wondering for a long time but how do you get the third tool bar to show on the screen, ive seen you have it during the starts of series as well so i didnt think it was a tech

[@LoreleiBlaine]

it's a setting in options as of .18 I think? "interface" is the submenu iirc, you can display up to 4 simultaneously

[@imre-tibortimar8141]

For me always stops after 5 or 8 cycles. I could not find the problem :(

[@meneither3834]

The other option is using requester chests to control quantity.

[@dzedajmasteryoda2279]

maybe i'm stupid... but can some one tell me why turbins start to work and produce electricity when its night and solar panels stop working??

[@Gelatinocyte2]

Solar panels need sunlight - hence "solar".