I have a few distributor condenser for flathead that I would like for someone preferably in the Phoenix AZ area to check for me if they are any good. If not out of state is find with me. Thanks Frenchy
OK, I am going to just call this one out... Really? Online NAPA condenser is $3.88 where I live. If a part that cheap is suspect, you're really going to carry around a whole mess of them? Without an oscilloscope you couldn't really check them out reliably anyway (a good automotive scope would also work) and for less than $4, really? Seriously?
Charge it up with a battery and lay it on the workbench, with the wire in the air. When your buddy picks it up pay special attention to if he pee's his pants. If he does, it's good. If he doesn't..just screams a little, toss it.
I get the feeling you want to run an original ford scripted br*** one.. what i did is but a four dollar one, start the car with that, runs good? cool, now stick the ford one back on..still runs good? done. the older they are the more likely to be fine..otherwise they wouldve been changed out years ago..at least thats how i think, for insurance,keep the new one in your trunk tool kit.
Thanks to all of you. These two condenser is for my V12 Lincoln motor. Thanks Uncle Max I did have a set of dual points for my distributor which I found the part # as the one you gave me. Thanks Frenchy
Lots of new condensors are junk right out of the box these days. Seems to be due to poor quality control in China - perhaps it's because modern cars don't use them anymore. Just compare an original 30 year old condensor with a brand new one. It's clear that they are not built to the same standard. I now fit a Boyer Brandsen transistorised ignition unit to all my cars - easy to hide and allows you to do without a condensor. Costs about £25 sterling and makes the points last forever. You can leave the condensor on for looks - it just doesn't need to be there any more.
WOW , lots of opinons. Send them to me and i will use our old sun condensor tester and check and load up each one. No charge other than shipping back to ya...put a five in the box.. A condensor must be tested for cap, leakage and series resistance. Cap is the holding capacity of the condensor ( mathing the ignition system designs etc) ex : A condensor with a spec of .24 mfds ( microfarads) needs to be on the money , if for example it was .30 mfds it would cause a very short contact life etc. Leakage is a test by charging the condensor and measure the leakage ( shorting) while accepting the charge . A leaky condensor causes miss fires etc. Series resistance measures the resistance to ground...a short here wont allow the igntion to build up and fire. Interesting note , i just checked a box of 24 new condensors and only three p***ed these checks, had to send them back. On our distributor machine you can hear and see a defective condensor when testing as they cause a arc at the contacts and you can hear the crackle the arc makes..... More than glad to help...... www.bubbashotrodshop.com Bubbas 1330 Main Speedway Indiana 46222
I believe the IH-200 is for an International Harvester 6V tractor. Echlin part number for 12V fFord is FA66 at NAPA. Jim
Back before electronic ignition, all tuneups where the points were changed out, it was customary to change the condenser too. A completely unfounded practice, but the customer is always right? Nevertheless, it was good for me because it provided me with a lifetime supply(still have a few dozen) of good used condensers after working in a tuneup shop for only a couple of years in the late '70s. I would select an old used one that I have tested before I would use one of new manufacture.
Bubba Thanks I will mail them to you this week. Also so you know these condensers were originally for a 6 volts system will it make a difference if I install them on a 12 volts system I do have a pair of resistors before the power is getting to the condensers. Thanks Frenchy
I don't know where you got that information, but it just don't hold true in my experience. I haven't been able to put a finger on any period where the quality of condenser manufacture was ever an issue. Early on, when I was just a teenager, I adopted the time honored remedy; If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I really believe, since I've been driving a car since 1946 and adjusting the timeing, point gap, etc was really the only thing needed to keep them running good. When it came time to adjust the points, we routinely filed them to smooth off the surface of the contacts. I still use a point file when tuning up my jalopies, adjusting the point gap every spring as a preventive maintenance practice. Along the way, I have observed that lots of people bought new points instead of filing them, but when the points needed it, we filed them and used them until there wasn't anything left to file. Then we bought new points. Yes there was subtle pressure applied by the industry to change the condenser with the points. They sold "tuneup kits", implying that all of those parts needed to be changed any time you changed one of them. But, as I said, it was a 'unfounded practice' , not usually necessary, and that's where I got my collection of good-but-slightly used condensers. It was a routine perpetuated by maintenance shops and advertised by the industry, to change the condenser at a regular tuneup, even if there was no indication of failure. Any time a motor wasn't performing, the old saw was "change the points and condenser". In my mind that was pure malarkey. I never did it because, after my dad told me it was a waste of good money, experience actually proved that to be true. I followed his lead from then until now. I have always owned vehicles with points ignition in every car I have owned, except my recently purchased '03 minivan. My memory might not be serving me well, but I only remember one condenser failure in a car that I owned from 1957 until today. When that condenser failed, the car quit dead, my '31 chivvy, the points burned and fused the contacts together. Yes, I have changed out a condenser from time to time, when troubleshooting, or when the wire got frayed, but to put my finger on an actual failure, it was that one time. It was sometime in the '50s when I learned how to test them. Since then, whether to put in another or not, it's been a no brainer for me.
A car with a duff condensor will run but will dramatically misfire under any sort of load. Dude - get a Boyer Brandsen. It's just the easy solution to it all. Twenty five quid - problem solved for as long as you own the car. http://www.boyerbransden.com/IDunits.html
Bubba How much would you charge me to set up my other 2 Lincoln distributor. I will have both of them with new points all I would like for you to do is to put them on your Sun machine and set them up as well as the vacuum advance. Do you need to have one of my coil for this test. Thanks Frenchy
My 65 F-100 quit running 2 weeks ago for the first time in 33 years. I had a very tiny tiny spark, a friend dropped off a set of points, conensor and coil on his way out of town. I still had no fire, after getting towed home, I checked everything. The old coil and both new and old condensors were no good. The new stuff was made in china. I installed an old set of points and a condensor from an old FE 390 distributor. ( USA made stuff ) The 352 fired up with nary a pump of the gas. If my buddy would have brought me Blue Streak or similiar I would ahve saved a tow charge. Buy American. Ricky.
I went through two capacitors in less than 500 miles on a Mallory distributor...finally gave up and put in a Pertronix Ignitor.
Funny thread ... talking about Sun machines and capacitors/condensers. You can bet if you ever try to rebuild a Sun distributor tester, you better bring a sack full of capacitors. Most of them will be toast.
Frenchy, Your vw's are awesome and if your building a Hot rod I can't wait to see it. Uncle max gave me same advice for IH 200 and and I installed one today, my flatty has come alive! Good luck, Ben
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