Compressor
alaindustrial:compressor
Summary
The Compressor is an LV machine that squeezes raw materials into denser forms: metal dust into ingots, coal and gem dust back into items, ice and snow into denser blocks, sugar cane into paper. Its standout job is closing the ore-doubling loop for non-metals — it's the only machine that restores coal, diamond, emerald and lapis dust to a usable item, so ore → 2 dust → 2 items works for those too.
Mini-example: grind a diamond ore in the Macerator to get two diamond dusts, then run both through here. You end up with two diamonds from one ore — and only this machine can do that last step.
Energy
The Compressor only consumes EU/FE and keeps a small buffer so it doesn't stutter when the supply is uneven.
| What | Value |
|---|---|
| Internal buffer | 800 EU/FE |
| Max input | 32 EU/FE/t (LV) |
| Consumption | 2 EU/FE/t while working |
An LV machine — it draws up to 32 EU/FE per tick. Any surplus in the network isn't taken, the block isn't damaged.
Energy comes in on the five working faces. The front face (the one the machine "looks" toward) is inert — cables don't connect there and hoppers don't work through it.
Processing
Each press takes 130 ticks (~6.5 s) and costs 260 EU/FE. The finished result doesn't eject on its own — pick it up by hand or with a hopper.
| What | Value |
|---|---|
| Duration | 130 ticks (~6.5 s) |
| Cost per operation | 260 EU/FE |
| Auto-output | no |
Inventory
One input slot, one output slot.
| Slot | Takes | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Input | items the Compressor can press | 1 |
| Output | the result | 1 |
Interface
One screen shows the energy buffer, the progress, the input slot and the output slot.
The status line under the slots explains why the machine stands idle: "Not enough material", "No matching recipe", "Output is blocked", "No energy". An empty machine gets no line at all — an empty slot speaks for itself.
A line of its own is exactly what the Compressor needs: it has batch recipes where one operation eats several items at once (4 glowstone dusts, 9 redstone). An incomplete batch is accepted into the slot but starts nothing — without a caption that just looks like a breakdown. Redstone shows it best: a full stack of 64 splits into batches of 9 with 1 left over, so a single item sitting in the input slot after a whole stack has been processed is normal, not a jam.
The energy line does not appear the moment the buffer runs dry, but only once it has stayed empty for a while: a machine that barely has enough power runs one tick on, one tick off, and a caption blinking along with it would lie about a stall.
Block Properties
An ordinary solid block, softer than stone. Any pickaxe breaks it, but it does NOT keep its charge when broken.
| What | Value |
|---|---|
| Tool | pickaxe |
| Keeps charge on break | no |
Sound
While running, the compressor emits a deep mechanical compaction thud — the loop (pattern A, default 0.35). It falls silent when idle.
Recipes
The Compressor is crafted at a workbench (the same casing layout as the other LV machines).
| Input | Output | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Non-metal dust (coal, diamond, emerald, lapis) | the item back | only machine that restores these — closes non-metal ore-doubling |
| Metal dust (copper, iron, gold) | ingot | an alternate route to the Electric Furnace |
| Ingot (9 metals + 5 alloys) | plate | the machine route for forging plates, an alternative to the Forge Hammer |
| 2 alloy plates (the shielding one also asks for depleted uranium) | reinforced plate | the reinforced rolling tier: bronze, invar, cupronickel, electrum, shielding alloy |
| Uranium concentrate ×2 | enriched uranium | the nuclear chain |
| Clay ball | brick | pressing clay under pressure |
| Ice | packed ice | 1:1, vs 9 ice at a crafting table |
| Packed ice | blue ice | 1:1, vs 9 packed ice at a crafting table |
| Snow block | ice | a new route to ice, no loop back |
| Sugar cane | paper | 1:1, vs the 3→3 crafting recipe |
| Cocoa beans | brown dye | 1:1, automates what the beans already do by hand |
| Glowstone dust ×4 | glowstone | the same price as at a crafting table, but automatable |
| Redstone dust ×9 | block of redstone | the same price as at a crafting table, but automatable |
Glowstone, the block of redstone, the reinforced plates and enriched uranium work in batches: the Compressor piles up the required count in the input slot and spends it all at once. With fewer than four glowstone dusts (nine redstone, two plates, two concentrates) it simply won't start the job — the progress arrow stays put until a full batch has gathered.
The headline: for coal, diamond, emerald and lapis, the Compressor is the only way to turn the dust back into the item — the Electric Furnace won't smelt them. That's what makes it the partner that completes ore-doubling for non-metals. (Lapis dust still gives ×1 back per dust, so there's no extra duplication: item → 1 dust → 1 item.)
Progression
Tier: LV. The densifying machine and the closer of the non-metal ore-doubling loop. It doesn't evolve into anything in v0.1. Needs power from an LV source, e.g. a Generator.
Related
Macerator — produces the dust this machine presses back into items. Electric Furnace — smelts metal dust (the Compressor is the non-metal counterpart). Electronic Circuit — a component along the processing chain. Generator — the power source.
Crafting
Shaped Crafting
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Compressor