NAPA condenser

I use it on my 6 volt system and it works Great ! I had Skip Haney rebuild my coil and he recommended it.

No probs at all. It's $ 10.87

Mike42
 
got a question for one u gentle man i got this old flathead and it turns over and etc and i got new plugs in it wires new cap and rotor and etc and when u take the cap off with a screw driver it has fire down at the points . put the cap back on and pull a plug out leave the wire on it lay it against the head and turn it no fire so i guess the fire is not making it to the top of the cap and rotor to go out to the plugs , would that be the condensor or the coil or maybe both . far as i kn its still 6 volts . could i stick a 12 volt coil on there for m another old ford just to see if it fixes it or will it burn up the points ???
 
If you are opening the points with a screw driver, it can make a spark. However if you let the normal action of the cam open the points, there may be no spark, because they need cleaning.
 
52fordv8 said:
got a question for one u gentle man i got this old flathead and it turns over and etc and i got new plugs in it wires new cap and rotor and etc and when u take the cap off with a screw driver it has fire down at the points . put the cap back on and pull a plug out leave the wire on it lay it against the head and turn it no fire so i guess the fire is not making it to the top of the cap and rotor to go out to the plugs , would that be the condensor or the coil or maybe both . far as i kn its still 6 volts . could i stick a 12 volt coil on there for m another old ford just to see if it fixes it or will it burn up the points ???
Click to expand...

Here's the procedure I always use to check out such things:

1. Check for current at the battery side of the coil.

2. Check for current at the distributor side of the coil. If none, points may be closed. Check while cranking the engine with test light. Light should go brighter and dimmer as points open and close.

3. Remove the high tension wire from the coil, replace it with a spark plug wire, crank the engine while holding that spark plug wire near a head bolt. That will tell you whether the coil is making spark.

4. Remove a sparkplug wire from a plug (leave the plug in) and hold the end of the wire near a head bolt while cranking. That will tell you whether you're getting spark to the plug.

5. Check continuity between the contacts that the rotor jumps spark to inside the cap and the end of each wire at the plug end.

One of those tests should identify the culprit.
 
4a. Helmet distributor? Check the other bank of cylinders, the unusual rotor works the rows of cylinders independently. If it fires on one bank but not the other, suspect the rotor. [EDIT: Ooops, this is incorrect, the rotor fires two cylinders on each side for each terminal end. Thanks KenCT.]

3a and 4a, use rubber handled pliers to hold that plug wire, otherwise prepare for an experience.

-VT/JeffH
 
Last edited:
A good and solid way to check for spark, I believe, is to take the plug out or use a spare plug. Wrap a wire around the plug itself, ground the other end of the same wire good. Put a little gas on the plug electrode and crank the engine, the gas should burst into a flame. This is a good integrity check, nothing wrong with the other guys checks but if you aren't as good at reading the plug wire spark, this check will tell you for sure. good luck
 
JW,
IH -200 works on 6 or 12 volts. The micro farad value is a bit lower than
Ford and Bubba call for but I guess close enough. The compact shape makes them
easily adaptable to the crab dist. A lot of us use them.
Charlie ny
 
On a 12-volt powered system utilizing the OEM type ignition, a person should get a ballast resistor that will control the current available to the ignition system as if it were still a 6-volt system.

You can have good electrical continuity to the points and still not be capable of spark at the spark plug end of the high tension leads. The condenser charges up like a hydraulic acumulator in between openings of the breaker points if it is working properly. When the breaker points open it releases the condensed charge very quickly so as to keep the points from arcing and to allow for a good induction through the coils primary to the secondary for a good high voltage spark. Bad points & condenser is the first defect to check for when you have problems. From there its on to rotor, cap, and high tension leads. Even a bad spark plug can ruin your day. It's good to have test equipment around to check stuff out but known good components can be swapped out to test the system. Good condenser (capacitor) testers are getting harder to source now days. A person has to not only check for micro farad capacity but also check for leakage through the dielectric material inside.
 
Bubba - Will that condenser and contact set work for an "H" series six as well? I think the only difference in the distributors is the number of cam lobes. Norm
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top