Condensor testing

[oddball]

Following on from Clive's post on condensor testing one little trick we used to use when I worked for a certain breakdown organisation was:- Get a condensor ( which you know to be good) any condensor will do, doesn't have to be the one for your vehicle. Extend the wire by a foot or so to make life easy & put a crocodile clip on the end, fix another croc clip to the body. Then when you get a problem just clip the wire to the dist terminal on the coil & the body clip to earth & you will get instant improvement if the vehicle condensor is at fault. It only takes seconds & will get you home (or anywhere else) without having to replace anything at the roadside 8)

[fv1609]

That seems a good idea. In your experience would you say it would be pretty unusual for a condenser to go low resistance/short circuit? I would have said that was the case, as the leak/short tends to blow a short circuit open - as a design feature. But you see people putting a condenser accross an ohmeter & seeing it give no reading pronounce it as working ok

 

I agree hitching in a parallel condenser is a uselful get you home expedient. Although the condenser used should be rated at 300v at least to withstand the voltage induced in the primary when the points open. I think you did mean any distributor condenser. A lot more elegant than in the REME Recovery Manual which talks about making a condenser from some wire, two old cans, some stiff paper & some insulating tape!

[oddball]

Hi Clive

 

I would have to be honest & say that I never spent the time to check the condensor out with a meter, it being far quicker to just clip on the temporary condensor & if it worked just replace the vehicle one. Time being of the essence when you are on the side of a motorway with people trying their best to kill you.

 

It's a long time ago now but from what I remember the majority of condensor problems caused lack of power or mis-firing faults very similar to fuel problems, so after jump leads my condensor rig was probably my most used bit of kit (until electronic ignition became the thing to have)

 

Ballast resistors were another quite common problem I seem to recall.