Dec 13, 2025 - My stupid-but-functional essentia setup pt. 2
Previous part: pt 1
Problem
After the addition of crystallizers and centrifuges, there’s an importand problem, which is a bit difficult to describe with words. Items are smelted and essentia enters the buffer ring. When it reaches the corresponding jar, the crystallizer/centrifuge tries to process it, blocking it from reaching the 2 extra jars (they have a lower suction) and from continuing in the ring (it also has a lower suction). The result is that, until crystallizers and centrifuges finish their work, the ring is congested and no essentia can pass through it.
This is a big problem, because those machines (especially crystallizers) are very very slow.
Solution A
The simpliest thing to do is to use essentia valves. They can be manually activated to prevent essentia from passing through them. So I put them before the crystallizer/centrifuge and manually closed them to allow essentia to flow into the extra jars. “Manually” is the keyword: it’s a bad thing.
I need to automate the closure of the valves. Fortunately they can be activated by redstone!
Solution B
I need to detect when the furnace is smelting and enable all valves, then disable them when the smelting finishes. First I used Automagy’s red crystals to create the redstone lane (they can be put on walls; regular redstone would have been impossible with the available space).
Next thing is to detect the smelting start and end. First I tried a remote comparator (wireless detector from Automagy) on the furnace, but it triggered also when fuel was into it (which is always), which makes it useless. I then tried connecting it to the alembic (which takes the essentia from the furnace into the ring), but the essentia stayed in there for too little to actually trigger the valves.
The solution was to use a magical hourglass (Automagy), as a pulse extender: the comparator detects when essentia passes through the alembic and sends a signal to the hourglass. Every time it receives a signal, it emits another signal that lasts for 20 seconds max. This extended signal closes all the valves.
Another little problem
There’s always the possibility that all the extra jars fill up when the valves are closed. To handle this case I put a void jar insteand of the regular third jar. I hate wasting resources, but this case is rare enough to be tolerable.
Infusion
Let’s now talk about how I use the essentia I gather.
The first use is in infusion. The altar looks for jars in its proximity. Since I have the alchemical system in one room and the altar in another, I had to find a solution. First I manually took the jars from one place to the other as needed, but this became quickly cumbersome. To make it less manual, I used essentia mirrors, which are placed in pairs in both rooms and allow the altar to automatically take the required essentia for the process.
Actual alchemy
This is probably the stupidest part of the system. The machine used for advanced alchemy is called thaumatorium. It takes essentia from pipes as required by the crafting recipe. Initially I did put the jars manually, but of course I need more automation. Instead of creating a complex system with the tubes, I chose to use the essentia pump from Witching Gadgets. It works like the infusion altar: it “wirelessly” take essentia from nearby jars (or mirrors…), but can be connected to other tubes.
What did I do to make it reach every jar without worrying about its range? I put it in the infusion room (where I already put mirrors) and connected it with tubes to the thaumatorium in the alchemy room.
This concludes the description of my setup. I’m really proud of it and it was really fun to design. Next I’d like to create a system that automatically detects when some essentia aspect is low/missing and crafts and smelts the required items to replenish it. I need a lot of Potentia (to fly), Herba (to speed up crops) and Instrumentum (to repair items), so an automatic system would be really useful.
That’s all for today. See you soon!