Another Factorio tutorial, this time showing how to move 3 belts into 2 in a balanced fashion.
In the cases where you need to reduce 3 belts to 2, and you want all three feeder belts to be drawn from equally, use this design detailed in our most recent video. If all three belts are carrying two different items, segregated into left and right lanes, this balancer will not disturb their segregation.
Here is our Factorio tutorial showing how to build a 3 to 1 belt balancer that reduces the number of belts used while drawing an even amount from each incoming belt.
This 3 to 1 belt balancer is particularly useful at train depots, as two of them are sufficient to provide egress for all 6 inserters capable of unloading from one side of a single train car. If you are carrying two items on each belt, each segregated into their own lane, this belt balancer will keep those items separate in the same lanes after they’re combined into 1.
This Factorio tutorial demonstrates how to build a balanced 2 to 6 belt splitter.
This belt balancer is very useful at train depots. Each train car can only be accessed by 6 inserters from each side, so a 1 to 6 or 2 to 6 belt splitter is often needed. This design shows you how to build such a splitter that provides an equal amount of items to each of the outgoing 6 belts. Providing an equal amount ensures that all your inserters are able to work for the same amount of time, decreasing the amount of time your trains have to wait in the depot to be loaded.
This Factorio tutorial shows how to evenly split 2 belts into 5 balanced outgoing belts.
Occasionally you’ll have two belts full of an item and you’ll want to split it into 5 outgoing belts that all receive an equal amount of items. This Factorio tutorial describes two methods of achieving this and details the inner workings of the mechanisms used.
Our Factorio video showing how to split one belt into 6 belts with a balanced output.
This 1 to 6 belt splitter evenly distributes the incoming belt to the 6 outgoing belts. It maintains the incoming product’s lane, so if you have different items on either side of the incoming lane, it will continue to be arranged so on each of the outgoing lanes. Interestingly it requires fewer components (1 less splitter) to construct than the 1 to 5 balanced splitter.
Our video showing how to split one belt into 5 belts with a balanced output.
This 1 to 5 belt splitter evenly distributes the incoming belt to the 5 outgoing belts, with 20% of the load going to each. It is a compact design that maintains the incoming product’s lane, so if you have different items on either side of the incoming lane, it will continue to be arranged so on each of the outgoing lanes.
Our video showing how to split one belt into 2, 3, or 4 belts with a balanced output.
The 1 to 2 and 1 to 4 belt splitters are obvious, and should have been discovered naturally by any player. I’ve included them, however, in the interest of inclusiveness. This series will cover larger splitters in the future and I didn’t want to leave any out.
The 1 to 3 splitter is the most compact 1 to 3 splitter giving balanced loads, exporting 1/3 of the incoming load to each of the three outgoing belts. If you know of a more compact design, please let me know in the comments as I’d love to see it. This 1 to 3 splitter is 4 squares wide, at its widest, although if you’re willing to use some underground belts and stretch it out a bit you can achieve the same result without ever being wider than 3. The overall size will be larger, but you may not always have the width for this design.
Our video showing how to evenly balance the load on a single conveyor in Factorio, while also pulling evenly from both input lanes.
This balancer is slightly larger than the 1 to 1 balancer that only balances output, and it also includes more types of components, however it pulls in from both lanes alternately. Use this type of balancer if you need a balancer output and you don’t want a stopped-up lane on the input belt to back up movement somewhere earlier in the chain.