[Rockhopper]

I've got this mate at work that I helped out the other day. Suprisingly, he's a very talented auto elect, but after spending most of the day on this machine trying to diagnose it, he started stressing and changing parts haphazardly hoping it would fix the problem. When I turned up, I checked the ignition spark. It was a bit weak and got weaker as the engine ran longer. He'd changed the points, but had not changed the condensor. Well, there is the problem. Changed the condensor and all was good again, much to his relief. After a bit of a chat discussing why it would start and run on petrol but only run for a few seconds on lpg, he asked me how you would test a condensor. You know what? That's not a bad question. Being relatively inexpensive, I've always just chucked them over my shoulder and fitted new ones, but if you're trying to diagnose a problem you're not sure about, how would you go about testing a condensor???

[royce]

tell him its jsut a capacitor and its value is more than likely on the side of the can, just a matter of testing it with a meter able to test capacitance, capacitors usually break down with heat (I bet a lot of computer people can relate to that) so I guess youd need to get it play up then test

I must admit they are something that I change on my car when I first get it and never really worry about again unless the points look really bad, its not something that usually plays up

[foonji]

Condensor... you are talking about the little capacitor going from the alt + to ground yeh?

[royce]

no, inside the dizzy on points ignition engines, more or less goes from coil neg to earth

[foonji]

Okies

[eldo]

i used to carry a spare condensor and set of points around in my datto 1200 ute. never tried testing one though, other than replacing it with a new one

[MacDaddy]

royce wrote:

tell him its jsut a capacitor and its value is more than likely on the side of the can, just a matter of testing it with a meter able to test capacitance, capacitors usually break down with heat (I bet a lot of computer people can relate to that) so I guess youd need to get it play up then test

I must admit they are something that I change on my car when I first get it and never really worry about again unless the points look really bad, its not something that usually plays up

X 2
Its just a capacitor !

[Rockhopper]

Thanx for the replys guys. I did'nt think there was any real way to test them. We're motor mechanics in the forklift industry, and there are'nt a lot of forklifts around with points ignition systems in them, so as such we don't normally carry condensors in the work vans. So when we do get a forklift with a condensor problem, we have to leave site to go to a Repco and get a condensor, then return to site to fit it. As we charge according to how long we spend doing a job (including travelling to get parts), it could cost the customer $150 or more just to replace a $5 condensor.