condensor keeps going bad

W

weemark

Senior Member
well folks - ive got a little conundrum. My car hasn't really been on the road since a rebuild very long. I started with a few short journeys here and there and was using it locally and I never had any trouble with it.


I then decided I would go and race it at pendine sands which meant a 1300 mile round trip. I was apprehensive to say the least but all went without any incident and I got there and back no problem. The issues started when I got back.


I decided to go to a small local show which was only 10 miles away but 2/3rds of the way there the car died, I pulled into the side of the road and it wouldn't start again so after a few tests decided the condenser had gone bad. Once it was changed out the car fired right up again and off it went without any issues. Over the course of the weekend I drove it another 40 miles or so?


This weekend I decided to go to another show which is a bit further away, maybe 60 miles. I got there no problem and parked up but then i went to drive the car ten minutes after parking up and it coughed and spluttered and I thought no it cant be the condenser again but sure enough the car died completely and I couldn't start it again. Once again I changed the condenser out and it fired right up and off it went.


Now I'm nervous about taking the car out in case the condenser goes again. Why would condensors keep going bad? the only change I made was I advanced the ignition 4 degrees - would this cause the condenser to blow? surely not?


anyway ive retarded the ignition now back to 0 degrees advanced to see how it behaves. The distributor on the car is a LUCAS 411052 - it has no vacuum advance on it.
 
Usually they go bad due to poor material inside the cap. Where did you get the caps? Any made in china are very much junk (Macs auto parts). Look to NAPA that has theirs made and tested using standards. Bubba also has some made for a magneto that hold up very well.
 
Terry the cap I use is an original Lucas cap - you don't get repro caps for the lucas dizzy.


Its not easy to get the cap on and off, I can probably get pics of it but it wouldn't be easy.
 
Hi Mark are you still 6V?

I've gone over to 12V and use the Velleman ignition amplifier kits on my 3 currently on the road flatheads.

One thing it does is eliminate the condenser.

You can use them on 6V but it must be neg earth.

Edit: There can be a problem with the Lucas distributors with the rotor arm tracking to the shaft via the rivet. Look carefully at the arm and shaft and see if you can detect any blackish traces. Do you have resistor plug caps? Bad idea if you have. It might be that you have a ht problem that kind of fixes itself in the time it takes to cool down while you are changing the condenser. Advancing the ignition may have upped the cylinder pressure which will up the load on the HT side of the ignition. You could externally mount two condensers and simply swap a wire to run the other one (or rig a switch) to see if an instant change of condenser sorts it out. (Ruling out the cool down period).

My experience of the ht problems is that it gets progressively worse until it becomes undriveable.

One last question - when it fails is it at wider pedal angles? Ok at light pedal no good at wider angles - that is a sure fire (no pun intended) indicator of an HT side ignition problem.

Mart.
 
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In my post above Cap=condenser=capacitor: just an abbreviation. I did not notice your uk location! See if you can get a Bosh condenser replacement.
 
Mart I am using 12v.


I don't have any plug caps, the wires are held into the cap with pointy screws, on the plug end I'm using raja clips which bolt under the screw top on the plug. the raja clips are soldered onto the wires.


When I change the condenser now it only takes 10 mins so doesn't get a chance to cool down but it fires up straight away.


When it dies it dies completely and wont restart, it wont run badly or anything like that. Just dead as a dodo no matter what the pedal angle.


Terry I can get new condensors from Lucas no problem over here. ive got 2 spare in the car now :)
 
Jim sorry we don't have a napa stores here.


these are not pics of my dizzy but of one exactly the same



dbody.jpg


dpoints.jpg




dcap.jpg
 
I think the answer to your problem is a good condensor. We have the best available (Vertex Magneto) units but getting it to you is a shipping issue . Send me your address and i will check on shipping etc.....the vertex condensor is $32
 
BUBBAS IGNITION said:
I think the answer to your problem is a good condensor. We have the best available (Vertex Magneto) units but getting it to you is a shipping issue . Send me your address and i will check on shipping etc.....the vertex condensor is $32
Click to expand...



Jim I will send my address via PM, thanks
 
Mark,
NOS condensers are prone to fail, some are bad right outa the box, some can be OK for some months, or any where between. Trust me, been there. Currently I've been using condensers from The Distributor Doctor in the West Country. He has um made and I ain't had a failure. The new Lucas condensers are beyond ****, had one last 20 feet before it gave up.
Martin.
 
There was a thread on the H.A.M.B. about condensers. One of the guys there had dissected a bunch of failed condensers and found that the majority of the failures were due to the condenser lead coming loose from the dielectric, either from shoddy manufacturing processes or excess tension applied to the lead. Here's a link to that thread :https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...s-always-the-condenser.1114190/#post-12643726.

Also as an act of shameless self-promotion, you will see that I had posted on that thread promoting my "Trash Can" condensers, which, while not "stock", are super-reliable (and very cool looking).
 
BUBBAS IGNITION said:
I think the answer to your problem is a good condensor. We have the best available (Vertex Magneto) units but getting it to you is a shipping issue . Send me your address and i will check on shipping etc.....the vertex condensor is $32
Click to expand...


Bubba,


Can you post a picture of the Vertex magneto? I bought one from you, but pending installation threw it in a drawer with several other condensers, and now I'm not sure which is which:(


Thanks.
 
Go to Napa and get an Echlin IH-200. We have used well over a 1,000
for over 10 years and never heard of a failure. G.M.
 
G.M. said:
Go to Napa and get an Echlin IH-200. We have used well over a 1,000
for over 10 years and never heard of a failure. G.M.
Click to expand...


we don't have NAPA in the UK... the Echlin IH-200 is a different style of condenser and wouldn't fit in the dizzy.
 
scooder said:
Mark,
NOS condensers are prone to fail, some are bad right outa the box, some can be OK for some months, or any where between. Trust me, been there. Currently I've been using condensers from The Distributor Doctor in the West Country. He has um made and I ain't had a failure. The new Lucas condensers are beyond ****, had one last 20 feet before it gave up.
Martin.
Click to expand...



thanks Martin.
 
A friend just gave me a box of Lucas distributors that he changed for a crab ,he never could get his car running correctly with it ,no reference for timing with the slotted holes ,no vacuum advance ,Dump the Lucas ,Ted
 
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