What Happened?
When processing ores at Tier 4 using Mekanism’s 5x ore processing setup, the expected 5x multiplier is not achieved. Instead, the process results in only a 3x multiplier, which is worse than the Tier 3 setup (4x). Specifically, the Dissolution Chamber produces the correct amount of Dirty Ore Slurry, but the Washer stage reduces the Clean Ore Slurry from the expected 5000 mB to 3000 mB for every 5 Ore processed. This discrepancy leads to only 15 Crystals produced instead of the expected 25, effectively giving a 3x output instead of 5x.

Note on Raw Materials (1.17+)
I am aware that as of Minecraft 1.17 and beyond, raw materials such as Raw Iron do not yield the full 5x return. However, we have ensured that our testing is done using the actual ore blocks (e.g., Iron Ore), not the raw material variants. Despite using the ore directly, the issue persists.

Expected Behavior (5x Multiplier)

• 1 Ore → 5 Crystals at Tier 4.
• For 5 Ore:
  • Dissolution Chamber: 5 Ore → 5000 mB Dirty Ore Slurry
  • Washer (Expected): 5000 mB Dirty → 5000 mB Clean Ore Slurry
  • Crystallizer: 1000 mB Clean → 5 Crystals
  • Total from 5 Ore: 25 Crystals (5x)

Actual Behavior (3x Multiplier)

• Washer (Actual): 5000 mB Dirty → 3000 mB Clean Ore Slurry
• Crystallizer: 3000 mB Clean → 3 sets * 5 Crystals = 15 Crystals total
• Total from 5 Ore: 15 Crystals (3x)

Conclusion
The JEI recipe and observed results suggest a 5:3 ratio rather than the intended 5:5. This could be:

• A bug in Mekanism for version 1.21.1.
• An unintentional recipe alteration by the ATM developers.
• An intentional change by the ATM developers for unknown reasons.

This bug causes Tier 4 processing to yield less than even Tier 3’s 4x output, reducing it to 3x instead of 5x.

Developer Reports
(If applicable, provide a link to an issue on the Mekanism mod GitHub)

latest.log

https://gist.github.com/SudaSatoshi/6c10f609418b337674c72f93c01b0f76

Developer reports

No response

It's not just that the Tier 4 processing that is messed up.

Normally, ore gives 1000mB dirty slurry, and raw ore blocks give 6000mB. That is then converted 1:1 into clean slurry (so 1000mB and 6000mB respectively). The clean slurry is crystallized in 200mB chunks into crystals, so 5 and 30 respectively. The crystals are then pushed into the Tier 3 starting point (Injection Chamber), and everything moves at a 1:1 ratio down the line until the pure dust is smelted, crystals -> shards -> dirty dust -> dust -> ingots. Thus one ore yields 5 ingots, and one raw ore block yields 30.

Right now, in ATM 10-2.6, the dirty slurry yields are the same, so 1000mB / 6000mB for the previous examples. However, the dirty slurry yield is 60% (5:3), so we get 600mB and 3600mB of dirty slurry. Crystals are 200mB each, so we get 3 and 18 crystals respectively. However, the crystals are processed at 2:1 into shards, so we get 1.5 and 9 shards. Note that this potentially clogs the system at this point, if you input odd numbers of regular ore.

Shards are 1:1 into clumps, but clumps are 1:2 into dirty dust, so we get 3 and 18 dirty dust for ore/ raw ore blocks. Dirty dust is 4:3 into pure dust, so the yield becomes 2.25 per ore, and 13.5 per raw ore block. Note that this final conversion again means that non-perfect groups of regular ore blocks will clog up the system at this point. Just to be super clear, this makes the yield 45% of the normal mek tier 4 yield.

Weirdly, if you take the same blocks and bypass the tier 4, just drop them straight into tier 3, you get significantly higher yields. Ore gives you 4 shards, so 6 ingots per ore, raw ore blocks gives 24 shards, so 36 ingots per raw ore block. This is a 6x yield for straight ore, and a 20% increase over mekanism normal for raw ore blocks.

I note that the runic processor yields 80% clean slurry. The ratios seem to be tuned for this, as they work out more neatly. Still, one ore yields 800 clean slurry -> 3x ingots only. Even using the runic processor leaves you with 60% of the normal tier 4 mek yield.

As an aside, my mekanism system is also very confused when it comes to Tin / Osmium / Lead. Both the old processing and new processing steps seem to coexist simultaneously for those ores. I haven't checked a fresh install to see if that is just an artifact of my old save.

Just to add, as of the latest update, version 10-2.7, they've altered the processing rates again. Tier 4 is still terrible, as I outlined above, but standard Tier 3 Mek ore processing is no longer in the game. You can't put any ores directly into the Chemical Injection Chamber anymore, other than a couple of the Silent's Gems ones.

Hilariously, Tier 2 is still there (Purification chamber), and has much, much better yields than tier 4 (literally double). Directly in tier 3 gives you 4.5 ingots per ore, or 27 ingots for each Raw ore block.

Why are we mucking around with the basic mek processing anyway?

On version 2..8 of the pack this is still broken. I was hoping it was fixed since there was something in the patch notes specifically about fixing Mekanism processing, but nope still broken.

On version 2..8 of the pack this is still broken. I was hoping it was fixed since there was something in the patch notes specifically about fixing Mekanism processing, but nope still broken.

There is a commit in that should fix the worst part of it (the 2:1 crystal to shard ratio) — it should show up in the next update. Satherov put it in after 10-2.8 dropped.

It should basically quadruple the output of tier 4 processing (goes from 2:1 crystal: shard to 1:2 ratio).

Not sure if anybody has addressed the lack of tier 3.