condenser vs capacitor?
Printed From: Unofficial Allis
Category: Allis Chalmers
Forum Name: Farm Equipment
Forum Description: everything about Allis-Chalmers farm equipment
URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=195699
Printed Date: 15 Aug 2025 at 9:35am
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Topic: condenser vs capacitor?
Posted By: mdm1
Subject: condenser vs capacitor?
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2023 at 5:40pm
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I am not an electrical person to start but I understand they are the same thing. After having a second condenser fail on the same tractor I did some searching on the failure. I found an old condenser, installed it and the tractor is running fine now. A post on a different forum mentioned using a 0.22 microfarads capacitor. But he never explained what to do with it. After some searching I found some posts stating that people are doing this in some vintage cars. May not be the cleanest looking install but they claim it works and works well. Just looking to see if anyone has done this or has an opinion on it. On the recommendation of Fred I do have some Blue Streak condensers on the way. ------------- Everything is impossible until someone does it! WD45-trip loader 1947 c w/woods belly mower, 1939 B, #3 sickle mower 1944 B, 2 1948 G's. Misc other equipment that my wife calls JUNK! |
Replies:
Posted By: dfwallis
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2023 at 6:19pm
Condenser is just an older term for a capacitor. They are the same thing with exception of packaging of condensers for cars being specific to the task and mechanical device they are installed in. Just get a high quality part. There should be no advantage to using a capacitor designed for electronics circuits, and lots of disadvantages, such as having to kludge the install. There could in theory be a tiny advantage if you get a higher energy capacitor, but that could also wear out the points faster.
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mdm1 wrote:Posted By: jaybmiller
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2023 at 7:21pm
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same physical part, condenser is from the 'other side of the pond'..... What you need is the correct value, xx.xxx microfarads at say 50 volts. The value is chosen to do 2 things, one is to give the proper energy to the coil ( hence GREAT blue spark..) and the 2nd, is to minimize points 'pitting'. Nowadays several DMMs will have a 'capacitor' range making it easy to test cause distributor condenser all LOOK the same ! Too little or too much and you won't get the great blue spark you need. ------------- 3 D-14s,A-C forklift, B-112 Kubota BX23S lil' TOOT( The Other Orange Tractor) Never burn your bridges, unless you can walk on water |
Posted By: PaulB
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2023 at 7:28pm
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The problem in today's world is: There are fewer and fewer things needing condensers for the ignition system, so lower volumes mean lower profits and more and more companies don't make their own. With that being said almost anything available today is made offshore where quality control is nearly non-existent. Truthfully it almost doesn't matter what name is on the outside of the box, they are almost all from offshore. Who even knows if any company in this country will be making good ones tomorrow. The solution is get yourself a Petronix ignition conversion along with suppression plug wires that NEW units require for warranty coverage and be done with crappy condenser issues for ever. Honestly the old one you put in is is probably better that any new one, no matter what name is on the box. For anything and everything electrical the only place I go to is: http://www.brillman.com" rel="nofollow - www.brillman.com ------------- If it was fun to pull in LOW gear, I could have a John Deere. Real pullers don't have speed limits. If you can't make it GO... make it SHINY |
Posted By: dfwallis
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2023 at 7:41pm
I've noticed little difference in quality. I've gotten bad US made condensers in the 60s. QA was never really all the great for these parts. So, get an extra, condensers are cheap.
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Posted By: DaveKamp
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2023 at 8:19pm
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A Pertronix ignition conversion kit is a great way to resolve condenser problems... Unless you have a magneto. They don't work well on a magneto... but a good condenser will... A common electronics capacitor works... but realize that they're subjected to harmonic oscillations significantly higher than 60v. I would go as absolutely high in voltage rating as possible, so that you'll have the greatest survival possible. there's three common failure modes for an ignition condenser... first is internal short, second is an open, and third is a significant drift of value. The circumstances which cause these failures are time, heat, corrosion, and high voltage/high frequency. ------------- Ten Amendments, Ten Commandments, and one Golden Rule solve most every problem. Citrus hand-cleaner with Pumice does the rest. |
Posted By: WF owner
Date Posted: 16 Jun 2023 at 6:30am
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I often wondered why a condenser was always part of a routine tune-up. Points, plugs and condenser was normal. I've rescued condensers from old "parts tractors", that hadn't run in years, and had better luck with them than the ones available today.
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Posted By: mdm1
Date Posted: 16 Jun 2023 at 8:28am
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My tractors are not at my house. So I need to have them run when I need them. Fortunately I usually have a backup. This last time I had removed the distributor (something I had never done) marked everything to get it back in correctly and it wouldn't run right. Ran good before. I thought I had messed up the distributor. I spent a lot of time taking out the distributor and cleaning the carb when neither was the problem. Not afraid of a distributor any more though. I should know by now not to take anything for granted. ------------- Everything is impossible until someone does it! WD45-trip loader 1947 c w/woods belly mower, 1939 B, #3 sickle mower 1944 B, 2 1948 G's. Misc other equipment that my wife calls JUNK! |