https://wiki.factorio.com/index.php?title=Burner_inserter&ol... (edit from 2016)

> Since v0.10.0, any Fuel items picked up by a burner inserter will also be used to power the inserter. This makes it useful for:

> Automatically loading Gun turrets from a Transport belt, where one side of the belt is filled with magazines and the other with Coal.

> Filling Boilers with Coal. This has the advantage that they will continue working even if the power fails. This is not the case for electrically powered inserters.

https://wiki.factorio.com/Version_history/0.10.0#0.10.0

> Burner inserter will use item with fuel value for itself when it has empty inventory.

0.10.0 was released 2014.

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The flickering isn't a problem (though a high frequency flicker can caused the power chart to be difficult to read).

A consistent drain on power that is causing capacitor levels to drop below some threshold suggests that certain things should be turned off before the problem becomes cascading when capacitor supply drops to 0.