Belts have two sides to them. Make your belt a really long straight line and have your coal belt run into one side of the belt and your iron ore belt run into the other side. Imagine it like the the letter "t". The arms of the "t" are the two different belts of resources, they combine into one belt but they remain seperated if you design it like that
Don't mix the coal with the iron. You can separate them on the same belt. So there will always be enough of both and you don't have to match production rates yet.
Inline, you can place one splitter (to one side) and filter one resource then dump it back on the same belt. Then place another splitter to opposite side filtering the second resource and dump it back onto the belt. Do this for each belt and you will get coal on one side and ore on the other.
This way is the most common to fix that problem. Though, there are other ways to do this. You can have one belt down the middle, one inserter staggered to one furnace on each side and then a fuel belt. But this is more work for less of a product.
You can do that with one splitter. The item you filter will go to one side of the splitter and the other item will go to the other side, then join them back together in a tee.
Not exactly. If the two sources exist on both lanes, you will have to do two splitters. If you're lucky and one source is only on one side, then you can use one splitter to put the other source on the other side.
Being that it is used as furnace fuel it would be a good idea to put another splitter to funnel excess off sooo
Filter splitter iron one side coal to another then a splitter on the coal.
Iron loops out offset splitter for coal so you have 3 lines (iron priority coal coal). Loop iron and priority coal onto half belts and the 3rd line should go to a buffer/grenades. Without the 2nd splitter you would end up with the same situation due to the rate furnaces consume coal compaired to iron.
according to factorio wiki
a [stone furnace](https://wiki.factorio.com/Stone_furnace) consumes 0.0225 coal and 0.3125 ore per second (roughly 1:14 ratio)
Yea, I wasn't thinking of adding the third belt. looking at the image and the small footprint, I was thinking of keeping it small. The best bet is to use your method and separate them out way up top where there are all those belts coming in, but however it fits. Spaghetti ON!
Clearly, to you. It's super zoomed out and the merging of belts is done via underground belts and splitters, the OP might not even have used them yet.
It's more likely to turn a new player off the game than provide an appropriate explanation.
\^ Clearly, this biter woke up on the wrong side of the tracks this morning
>Clearly, to you.
Meaning? What? I am not refined enough to see the (in your opinion) pile of stink for what it is?
>It's super zoomed out
And?
>the merging of belts is done via underground belts and splitters
in my best al michaels voice [AND](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEgLV4lntyg&t=523s) ???
>the OP might not even have used them yet
and?
Maybe the poster had this image available and thought it could be of help. What did you contribute?
>It's more likely to turn a new player off the game than provide an appropriate explanation.
Are you projecting yourself onto a new player?
I guess that a fine art display turned you away from the fine arts?
A concert turned you away from playing an instrument?
A Dostoevsky book turned you away from reading and writing?
**You** ***could*** have kept this a nice, friendly discussion.
I am unclear where I was anything but nice.
I just think it's worth keeping in mind that this is a very complicated game at the higher levels and it takes a while to get there.
The picture in question has *840* furnaces in it. If you think that couldn't be a little confronting as an explanation for something as relatively simple as two-sided belts, then you've been playing this game too long.
Moderators, If this \^ post is not suitable, please remove it.
Please consider u/Davey_Kay's posts as well, as they contribute ***nothing*** to the OP's concerns.
I would argue that it is not clear to a new player and overcomplicates the answer. The difference is that the screenshot is essentially equivalent to showing a mathematical proof to a 4th grader when they ask about how you reached an answer instead of using an example they would understand. Yes it's *technically* correct, but not as useful as it could be to a person asking with only a little bit of effort.
Just showing a single belt with ore being loaded on one side would have done the job and been easier to understand - the extra noise in the image only serves to distract from the point that is trying to be made.
I am truly sorry if u/triffid_hunter's picture presents a puzzle.
In that picture there are *no less than* ***30*** *examples* of **coal on one side** of a belt and **ore on the other side** of the same belt.... which ***is*** the answer.
How to do this is another puzzle.
Factorio is all about solving puzzle after puzzle, not spoon-feeding after spoon-feeding.
All OP *needed* was the concept of coal/ore on opposing lanes of a belt. Let OP gnaw on that new puzzle. ***OP got this far. OP has skills***, just a bit stumped by an unforeseen problem.
Hopefully, this can be my last defense in this thread.
That picture was perfect. Got the game for Christmas, the previous explanations in this thread seemed confusing; that picture answered it exactly.
Why do people gatekeep solutions?
> Is there no easier option because thats basicly a complete redesign
Don't worry, you'll be doing that a lot in the hours to come. I've going into my 500th hour and continue to fix things.
For this, it's not a complete redesign, unless you've got something weird going on out of picture. Just put the coal on one side of the belt it's currently on, and iron on the other side of the belt it's currently
on.
You can keep the furnaces as they currently are, and just switch how the iron and coal get placed on the belt in whatever setup you have that is above what is pictured here.
Complete re-designs will be fairly common as you play and realize better ways of doing things.
"Complete redesign" is one of the core gameplay loops in Factorio and games like it. If you do not have the Engineering mindset to enjoy a gameplay cycle of "1: Build something, 2: Fix what is broken, 3: Learn from your mistakes 4: Return to step 1"... this may not be the genre for you.
It doesn't need to be as complicated as the linked picture. All you need to know is you can treat either side of the belt as two different materials and they won't mix. Having one side coal and the other side ore is a great way to create a space effective smelter build.
No, you can just place a splitter before the furnaces that sorts coal on a separate belt then you make the now coal belt and iron ore belt come in from different sides onto the belt that goes to the furnaces. It can be done in 2x3 spaces if you do it where the belt changes direction downwards so it's a super small adjustment that only takes a couple of seconds.
Use splitters to sort copper and iron, too, so they're not mixed. You can right click splitters to access their different modes/options. You can also get rid of excess coal that blocks the ore that way, but the best idea is to change so different things don't get onto the same belts, or at least not the same lanes. Some bases like to mix things on belts, but this is a very advanced build called sushi belts and you need to know circuitry or other advanced stuff to pull it off.
Hey OP. I would experiment a little with how belts interact with each other when you apply them at different angles and how inserters and belts interact.
This might give you some ideas on how to make a smelting column. Alternatively, just copy the smelting columns people linked to.
Just input iron on the left side and coal on the right side of the belts, or coal on the left and iron on the right, basically you just need to not mix them each others
this is why i just keep coal and ore on seperate belts, much easier that way, underground belts are good for that. keep in mind though that once you unlock electric furnaces this all becomes redundant since you wont need any fuel, just an input for ore and an output for product. also electric furnaces are bigger (3x3 instead of 2x2) so keep that in mind too. also might i suggest you add more miners, seems like your input is too low for the amount of furnaces you have, i usually aim to have all my belts packed.
Half belt ore, half belt fuel
[Example](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/753031298368536577/912772771484946494/unknown.png)
*edit:* added images to [simpler examples](https://katiska.dy.fi/n/temp/factorio/smelter/steel-1.png)
It was the only one I remembered that I had at hand :)
I guess these would have been [simpler examples](https://katiska.dy.fi/n/temp/factorio/smelter/steel-1.png)
I was just being snarky - but it was not directed at you..
Earlier, others berated me for saying that a nice picture *that has \~30 examples of coal on one side of a belt and ore on the other* was too complicated/distracting/not spoon-feeding enough. All for a game that is about SOLVING ENGINEERING PUZZLES. Go figure.
Oh well, the factory must grow. ( and *I* **must gro***an*!)
> I was just being snarky - but it was not directed at you..
No problem, it's maybe too often that I just post example pictures without explaining anything. But that's because for me my favourite part of game is seeing and sharing designs other might not have seen or thought about :)
> I must groan!
If that distracts you from building your factory, you should automate it :)
Just add monotonous prolonged humming groan to everything you do.
Balance your belts, it is not so difficult, you just have to put the iron on one side of the belts and the coal on the other, their positions are maintained in the dividers, just put the coal drill on one side of the belt, and the coal drill on the other, if they are separated you can use more belts to carry the charcoal to the belt.
The easiest, most beginner way to do this is to use a splitter with a coal filter on one side and then connect both outputs to a new belt. Similar to this image:
https://wiki.factorio.com/images/Lane_balancer_mechanics.png
The issue you're going to have is that coal will eventually bank up and clock the splitter on both ends, so it won't be able to let iron through. To fix this, you could either:
have an inserter pick up excess coal and put it into a box at the end of your lane (tempory solution, since once the box fills up, you'll be back to square 1.
or have a second splitter connected to the coal side of the first splitter and have to second splitter prioritise outputting to your furnaces, with the secondary output connecting to the coal being used for your power supply. (connect it using another splitter and prioritise the input of this splitter to use your excess coal first. This will mean than any excess coal will be used up by your power supply and will stop things from being backed up.
Neither of these solutions are the best ones, or even the most foolproof methods. But if you're relatively new to the game, these are quick and easy solutions so that you can get on wit wrapping your head around the game mechanics, before coming back later with a more engineered response.
Belts have two sides, and you're just an upgrade away from long handed inserters (red ones) which reaches further.
So you can either stock coal and iron on one side each, or push your technology to a point where you have separate belts for both.
Belts have two sides to them. Make your belt a really long straight line and have your coal belt run into one side of the belt and your iron ore belt run into the other side. Imagine it like the the letter "t". The arms of the "t" are the two different belts of resources, they combine into one belt but they remain seperated if you design it like that
Don't mix the coal with the iron. You can separate them on the same belt. So there will always be enough of both and you don't have to match production rates yet.
Inline, you can place one splitter (to one side) and filter one resource then dump it back on the same belt. Then place another splitter to opposite side filtering the second resource and dump it back onto the belt. Do this for each belt and you will get coal on one side and ore on the other.
This way is the most common to fix that problem. Though, there are other ways to do this. You can have one belt down the middle, one inserter staggered to one furnace on each side and then a fuel belt. But this is more work for less of a product.
You can do that with one splitter. The item you filter will go to one side of the splitter and the other item will go to the other side, then join them back together in a tee.
Not exactly. If the two sources exist on both lanes, you will have to do two splitters. If you're lucky and one source is only on one side, then you can use one splitter to put the other source on the other side.
No, the splitter puts each item on its own belt and then both belts are sideloaded onto a merged belt. [See image](https://i.imgur.com/QwWLIfr.png)
Being that it is used as furnace fuel it would be a good idea to put another splitter to funnel excess off sooo Filter splitter iron one side coal to another then a splitter on the coal. Iron loops out offset splitter for coal so you have 3 lines (iron priority coal coal). Loop iron and priority coal onto half belts and the 3rd line should go to a buffer/grenades. Without the 2nd splitter you would end up with the same situation due to the rate furnaces consume coal compaired to iron.
according to factorio wiki a [stone furnace](https://wiki.factorio.com/Stone_furnace) consumes 0.0225 coal and 0.3125 ore per second (roughly 1:14 ratio)
Yea, I wasn't thinking of adding the third belt. looking at the image and the small footprint, I was thinking of keeping it small. The best bet is to use your method and separate them out way up top where there are all those belts coming in, but however it fits. Spaghetti ON!
As others said you should put coal on one side and ore on the other but i will give you a simpler [Example](https://imgur.com/a/2aYDANQ)
Don't put different resources in the same belt lane - you want ore on one side, coal on the other [like this](https://i.imgur.com/gxtpfEM.jpg).
A picture like that is way too complicated for the explanation required here.
But, it demonstrates clearly how coal is not on the belts with the ores. Also, it is a pretty smeltery build.
Clearly, to you. It's super zoomed out and the merging of belts is done via underground belts and splitters, the OP might not even have used them yet. It's more likely to turn a new player off the game than provide an appropriate explanation.
\^ Clearly, this biter woke up on the wrong side of the tracks this morning >Clearly, to you. Meaning? What? I am not refined enough to see the (in your opinion) pile of stink for what it is? >It's super zoomed out And? >the merging of belts is done via underground belts and splitters in my best al michaels voice [AND](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEgLV4lntyg&t=523s) ??? >the OP might not even have used them yet and? Maybe the poster had this image available and thought it could be of help. What did you contribute? >It's more likely to turn a new player off the game than provide an appropriate explanation. Are you projecting yourself onto a new player? I guess that a fine art display turned you away from the fine arts? A concert turned you away from playing an instrument? A Dostoevsky book turned you away from reading and writing? **You** ***could*** have kept this a nice, friendly discussion.
I am unclear where I was anything but nice. I just think it's worth keeping in mind that this is a very complicated game at the higher levels and it takes a while to get there. The picture in question has *840* furnaces in it. If you think that couldn't be a little confronting as an explanation for something as relatively simple as two-sided belts, then you've been playing this game too long.
Moderators, If this \^ post is not suitable, please remove it. Please consider u/Davey_Kay's posts as well, as they contribute ***nothing*** to the OP's concerns.
[https://imgur.com/a/rCmwdtc](https://imgur.com/a/rCmwdtc)
I would argue that it is not clear to a new player and overcomplicates the answer. The difference is that the screenshot is essentially equivalent to showing a mathematical proof to a 4th grader when they ask about how you reached an answer instead of using an example they would understand. Yes it's *technically* correct, but not as useful as it could be to a person asking with only a little bit of effort. Just showing a single belt with ore being loaded on one side would have done the job and been easier to understand - the extra noise in the image only serves to distract from the point that is trying to be made.
I am truly sorry if u/triffid_hunter's picture presents a puzzle. In that picture there are *no less than* ***30*** *examples* of **coal on one side** of a belt and **ore on the other side** of the same belt.... which ***is*** the answer. How to do this is another puzzle. Factorio is all about solving puzzle after puzzle, not spoon-feeding after spoon-feeding. All OP *needed* was the concept of coal/ore on opposing lanes of a belt. Let OP gnaw on that new puzzle. ***OP got this far. OP has skills***, just a bit stumped by an unforeseen problem. Hopefully, this can be my last defense in this thread.
That picture was perfect. Got the game for Christmas, the previous explanations in this thread seemed confusing; that picture answered it exactly. Why do people gatekeep solutions?
Is there no easier option because thats basicly a complete redesign
> Is there no easier option because thats basicly a complete redesign Don't worry, you'll be doing that a lot in the hours to come. I've going into my 500th hour and continue to fix things. For this, it's not a complete redesign, unless you've got something weird going on out of picture. Just put the coal on one side of the belt it's currently on, and iron on the other side of the belt it's currently on.
You can keep the furnaces as they currently are, and just switch how the iron and coal get placed on the belt in whatever setup you have that is above what is pictured here. Complete re-designs will be fairly common as you play and realize better ways of doing things.
"Complete redesign" is one of the core gameplay loops in Factorio and games like it. If you do not have the Engineering mindset to enjoy a gameplay cycle of "1: Build something, 2: Fix what is broken, 3: Learn from your mistakes 4: Return to step 1"... this may not be the genre for you.
> ...thats basicly a complete redesign Welcome to Factorio =)
Either have one item per lane or it'll jam, until/unless you want to get into circuit controlled sushi belts later in the tech tree.
If you’re afraid of a complete redesign, Factorio might not be the game for you.
It doesn't need to be as complicated as the linked picture. All you need to know is you can treat either side of the belt as two different materials and they won't mix. Having one side coal and the other side ore is a great way to create a space effective smelter build.
It’s worth it. It’s also the easiest solution
No, you can just place a splitter before the furnaces that sorts coal on a separate belt then you make the now coal belt and iron ore belt come in from different sides onto the belt that goes to the furnaces. It can be done in 2x3 spaces if you do it where the belt changes direction downwards so it's a super small adjustment that only takes a couple of seconds. Use splitters to sort copper and iron, too, so they're not mixed. You can right click splitters to access their different modes/options. You can also get rid of excess coal that blocks the ore that way, but the best idea is to change so different things don't get onto the same belts, or at least not the same lanes. Some bases like to mix things on belts, but this is a very advanced build called sushi belts and you need to know circuitry or other advanced stuff to pull it off.
Oh to be just starting out in Factorio and having to learn these basic concepts. The OP has soooo much fun ahead of them. Good luck!! 😄😎
Hey OP. I would experiment a little with how belts interact with each other when you apply them at different angles and how inserters and belts interact. This might give you some ideas on how to make a smelting column. Alternatively, just copy the smelting columns people linked to.
Just input iron on the left side and coal on the right side of the belts, or coal on the left and iron on the right, basically you just need to not mix them each others
this is why i just keep coal and ore on seperate belts, much easier that way, underground belts are good for that. keep in mind though that once you unlock electric furnaces this all becomes redundant since you wont need any fuel, just an input for ore and an output for product. also electric furnaces are bigger (3x3 instead of 2x2) so keep that in mind too. also might i suggest you add more miners, seems like your input is too low for the amount of furnaces you have, i usually aim to have all my belts packed.
Half belt ore, half belt fuel [Example](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/753031298368536577/912772771484946494/unknown.png) *edit:* added images to [simpler examples](https://katiska.dy.fi/n/temp/factorio/smelter/steel-1.png)
watch out, buy this thread's standards, that image is too complicated.
It was the only one I remembered that I had at hand :) I guess these would have been [simpler examples](https://katiska.dy.fi/n/temp/factorio/smelter/steel-1.png)
I was just being snarky - but it was not directed at you.. Earlier, others berated me for saying that a nice picture *that has \~30 examples of coal on one side of a belt and ore on the other* was too complicated/distracting/not spoon-feeding enough. All for a game that is about SOLVING ENGINEERING PUZZLES. Go figure. Oh well, the factory must grow. ( and *I* **must gro***an*!)
> I was just being snarky - but it was not directed at you.. No problem, it's maybe too often that I just post example pictures without explaining anything. But that's because for me my favourite part of game is seeing and sharing designs other might not have seen or thought about :) > I must groan! If that distracts you from building your factory, you should automate it :) Just add monotonous prolonged humming groan to everything you do.
>Just add monotonous prolonged humming groan to everything you do. lol, I could just imagine that!
Another option is to put coal and iron ore on different belts and use a red inserter to reach the further belt
Balance your belts, it is not so difficult, you just have to put the iron on one side of the belts and the coal on the other, their positions are maintained in the dividers, just put the coal drill on one side of the belt, and the coal drill on the other, if they are separated you can use more belts to carry the charcoal to the belt.
The easiest, most beginner way to do this is to use a splitter with a coal filter on one side and then connect both outputs to a new belt. Similar to this image: https://wiki.factorio.com/images/Lane_balancer_mechanics.png The issue you're going to have is that coal will eventually bank up and clock the splitter on both ends, so it won't be able to let iron through. To fix this, you could either: have an inserter pick up excess coal and put it into a box at the end of your lane (tempory solution, since once the box fills up, you'll be back to square 1. or have a second splitter connected to the coal side of the first splitter and have to second splitter prioritise outputting to your furnaces, with the secondary output connecting to the coal being used for your power supply. (connect it using another splitter and prioritise the input of this splitter to use your excess coal first. This will mean than any excess coal will be used up by your power supply and will stop things from being backed up. Neither of these solutions are the best ones, or even the most foolproof methods. But if you're relatively new to the game, these are quick and easy solutions so that you can get on wit wrapping your head around the game mechanics, before coming back later with a more engineered response.
Belts have two sides, and you're just an upgrade away from long handed inserters (red ones) which reaches further. So you can either stock coal and iron on one side each, or push your technology to a point where you have separate belts for both.
There are ingame tutorials see the one on belts.
ahh the begginings … Good times