----------
From: Bob Hamilton
>Paul,
>
> I was very surprised that it didn't as it sounded just like a 12
gauge
>shotgun went off! I think it is a bit louder now as I the baffles are
>probably all
>bent out of place but it is sure running fine again. How often do you ever
>hear
>of condensers going bad? Never! This is the first in my 45 years of working
on
>older cars but now I know what the symptoms indicate and it won't happen
>again.
>
>Regards,
>Bob
Condensors (capacitors) are little more than foil seperated by dielectric
paper, wrapped on a reel. The part seems simple enough, but as the
high primary dump voltage is applied to the condensor, the dielectric
expands then contracts as the condensor discharges back into the coil.
This results in a small amount of friction that eventually kills the
dielectric
which results is an intermittant short to the chassis.
The failure of the condensor (or points) is engine revolutions based
and not time based.
Back in the old days, it was reccomended that you change the
condensor with the points, and as long as you do that, the condensors
dont give you grief, so they seem not to be a weak link.
Replace your condensor each time you replace the points, and
keep a spare of each for good measure.
Jarrid Gross
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Sep 05 2000 - 10:19:23 CDT