Auto-kiln build help

[pgelinas]

I'm trying to build my first auto-kiln setup and I'm having trouble with the Detector Block. My goal is to dump all the items I want to smelt (the ores, pottery) in a Block Dispenser, push a button to start the process and the contraption to smelt all the things.

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In the image you see the BD on the right beside a simple piston setup. There's the DB on the left and the redstone runs atop the cobblestone and ends ON the BD. There's also the button on the cobblestone.

The BD/piston setup works flawlessly when I push the button: the BD places the block and the pistons push it on the kiln, then retracts. However, when the redstone signal is sent by the DB (ie, I stay in front), no block is placed but the pistons extends. I've also watched the BD when an item passes in front of the DB, because I was suspecting that it placed a block then quickly sucked it up, but it's not the case either. Does anyone knows what I'm doing wrong? I thought this was a fairly simple setup...

Edit: interesting thing to note: when I put a redstone repeater on the cobblestone "bridge", the button no longer works...

[Six]

Sounds like what is going on is when the detector is powering the line of redstone, the BD and pistons are getting powered at the same moment. This means the the extended piston is in front of the BD as it tries to dispense, so it can't dispense. What might work is to delay the power getting to the pistons slightly with a repeater?

[pgelinas]

I had the same thought, but the button use the same line of redstone and it works... I'm experimenting with various signal source, and I think that might be because the pulse from the DB is too short.

[FlowerChild]

Repeaters can be used to extend a signal btw. That might be your simplest solution.

[Rob]

You need two signals coming from the detector, one leading only to the dispenser, and the other on a delayed extended signal leading to the two pistons. Also, you need a longer source signal from the Block detector, so have the items fall one block into your collection area, instead of having it collect right away.

Setup in spoiler, don't look if you want to figure it out yourself.

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[Taleric]

I have had much better performance piggybacking a timed signal off the bellows pulse or later a buddy by turntable w/ flowing water.

I adjust the pulse having a BD set a torch down to find the timing sweet spot and reliably cycle till I shut it off.

I have run into issues with DB missing items rarely stopping the cycle on this type.

[pgelinas]

I got it working :D I delayed the signals to the pistons like Rob said. I think the fact that it worked with a button before is just a glitch.

Here's the redstone setup:

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I have it running for a bit now and it didn't miss any items. I didn't move the water down either.

Oooops, I need to remove the crucible and the cauldron from that temporary location, they grab the items sometimes ^_^

[Yhetti]

I used the one from the illogically compact thread, but I added one or two extra blocks in the BD.

[Whisp]

Just as a heads up since you mentioned checking for losses. I have a double kiln with a design like that set up in my base, because I love the way it works and looks with the waterflow.
Losing cooked items isn't a problem normally, but since one side is open while cooking, logs can catch fire from the stoked fire below and burn up before they are converted to charcoal.
It's been a while since I last checked the numbers, but you can have a loss rate of up to 10-20% if I recall correctly. So you might want to look into different designs, if you want to mass produce charcoal.

[pgelinas]

Thanks for the heads-up, I'll keep that in mind if I ever get to produce charcoal. I might just go and make one for the hell of it ;)

[Yhetti]

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Works way better. Never lost anything to it, and I don't need a button to start it because it starts on its own. Just add two(I think, It could be three, but try two first) extra blocks into the dispenser with the piston and torch in it and it should poop out cooked items pretty fast.

[jkievlan]

I probably went completely overboard with this design, but I have a waterless auto-kiln that uses a block dispenser, a buddy, and two sticky pistons. The sticky pistons pull a side of the kiln out and push the opposite side in to dump the contents into a hopper below; the dispenser drops the block directly into the center of the kiln; and the buddy detects four updates (block cooks, brick block pushes in, brick block pulls out, next block gets dropped in) and uses a double T flip-flop to determine when to pulse the signals to the dispenser and to the sticky pistons. I could have made a much simpler design with a water flow, I think, but it was fun anyway :)

EDIT: In reference to one of the posts above, this design also means there are no open sides, so logs cannot catch fire.

[milkmandan]

A timer based system is simpler, generally more reliable and self starting. My current uses 2 BD and 2 redstone, one RS torch and reuses the bellows timer. Depending on number of hibachis, can work with as few as 2 nonredstone items in the timer BD and a solid block that doesn't respond to kiln in the other if cooking pottery. Can be either waterless with a crucible/cauldron to catch the output or use water to move the kiln output down to another step in production line.

[Six]

The problem I've encountered with timer based kilns is with the loading and unloading of chunks. I'm not sure if it is cook times on things in kilns resetting or just parts of the machine being loaded at different times or what, but sometimes this leads to uncooked things getting incorrectly pushed and clogging things up.

[jkievlan]

A timer based system is simpler, generally more reliable and self starting.

Simpler, yes. You can make a self-starting auto-kiln using almost any method, though, and I'm not sure what you mean by "more reliable." I don't get any losses with my kiln and it's a very quick system because the next block places immediately after the last cooks (hard to accomplish with a timer) and the output drops directly into a hopper instead of slowly flowing down a water stream.

[matty79321]

A timer based system is simpler, generally more reliable and self starting.

Simpler, yes. You can make a self-starting auto-kiln using almost any method, though, and I'm not sure what you mean by "more reliable." I don't get any losses with my kiln and it's a very quick system because the next block places immediately after the last cooks (hard to accomplish with a timer) and the output drops directly into a hopper instead of slowly flowing down a water stream.

I have found that a combination of both works nicely. I have a setup that uses a detector block to detect whether an item/block is in the kiln, and a timer to release water into the system to flush the cooked item into a crucible. My detector block also sends a signal to a dispenser to place a new ore or pottery block into the kiln. Might not be the most compact, but its effective. I'd post a screenshot (in a spoiler of course) if i had access to my desktop.

[milkmandan]

I think people are confusing what I meant by that. I don't use a piston; the BD places directly into the kiln. A solid block gets put in the BD to push out pottery (or the last item of ore or wood) into stream/crucible. If the timer gets thrown off by chunk load or whatever, the BD just sucks up the item before it's finished and it'll get placed on it's next pass.