[Kevin in NJ]

The condenser is tested with a coil condenser tester. The same tool that makes an arc then heats the coil to see if the arc gets less. You can put a condenser across it and see if it causes issues.

The other tool is a condenser test set used by radio repair guys. That is a bit more complicated, I have one.

There is an ESR meter also but I do not know if that will do a good job on these types of capacitors. I use that for checking power supply filter capacitors.

The capacitor value checker on some volt meters does not check for problems. A capacitor will show proper capacitance yet still not function in circuit. There are other attributes such as leakage at high voltages and such.

The best solution is to use a modern high quality unit such as what is made by A&L. Switching to the V8 points and condenser is a mistake. The modern condensers are made low bid in china and may fail quick, even out of the box.