Stack Inserters will wait FOREVER until they can pick up a full stack of input items before dropping them on the destination.
The best effort stack inserter will pick up as many as possible, then drop the stack on the output. This requires a decider combinator to override the stack size if we are holding a less then full stack.
https://factoriobin.com/post/kuva7t
I'm using this to compact up sushibelts with great impact!
I'll try this at home, but curious: If you set the inserter's stack size to (Red Star) signal from the box, would that work similarly?
Yes, but only if it was holding something at the time. When there is nothing in the inserter, red-star will be zero, so the stack size would be zero. So there is a boot-strapping issue. That's why I did opposite logic where I hold the stack size high UNLESS I see a problem in the hand, then I tell it to let it go.
But if you use the signal from the box? It should be above zero when needed
Right, but consider the scenario when the inserter is empty and now there is something i can pick up. At the point where it decides to pick something up, there is no signal, so the minimum stack size is 1, so it will pick exactly one up.
ohh, I'm sorry, you said from the box. Right, as long as there was only one thing in the box that would be fine, as soon as there are two things of different sizes in the box, the inserting might try to pick up something where there is only one item in the box, and then it will hold 1 waiting for the rest of the stack to appear in the box before picking up the other item that has enough for a full stack.
Ah, makes sense when there are more types