Condensors ?

[dave m]

Do dist condensors go bad due to age even when not in use---thanks

[oldandtired]

They can.

[Ronnie]

They can & will go south on you.

[ken ct]

Most of the China repops are bad. Use a NAPA # IH-200. work great. ken ct.

[dave m]

Ken--this one is on my orig 46 indian m / c

[ken ct]

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You never mentioned that LOL. ken ct.

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

They do go bad with age from time to time.
They seem to lose their seal and allow air into the assembly of foil and mica etc. Air along with a little moisture kills them.

[rotorwrench]

Some of the old ones had wax paper in them. If they ever got real hot the wax would melt out & ruin them. Yes, they even made crap back in the day.

[NYfatboy]

I bought a mint 1958 Olds 88 in '85, only 40 k on it,car was mint. Went to pick up friends coming back from Mexico in it, I wanted to show off. Picked them up at Kennedy airport and coming home got stuck in Friday evening rush hour traffic on the Van Wyck Exp..Took 2 hour to get them a cab, my buddy wanted to kill me,had to get got his car and tools and come back!Turned out to be the $1.04 condenser. I used the one for the radio, started car and drove home. Got so disgusted that I swapped the Olds for a Mercury and $100.Sorry for the long story,but yes condensers go bad!

[jake197000]

ive got boxes and boxes or nors condensors there all bad.

[Kube]

Originally Posted by dave m

Do dist condensors go bad due to age even when not in use---thanks

Yes, without a doubt.

[woodiewagon46]

There is an excellent and in depth article on condensers in the 2014 September/October issue of the V-8 Times. I purchased several condensers for my Model A and none fit correctly. They were too long so I needed to bend the part that screws into the outside of the distributor. Three of the brand new condensers were bad, right out of the box. I should have known when I saw that they were made in China.

[scicala]

This isn't a Ford, but helps explain condensers going bad from age even when never used.
I had a new, still in the sealed box AC Delco set of points from back in the 70's with the integrted condenser (uniset).
A friend of mine was tuning up his '73 Corvette to sell the car, and I gave him the points/condenser. Car wold not even fire with the point gap set correctly.
Put the original set back in and fired right up. Also, the points and condenser were always in in a heated house and in a dry area.

Sal

[Pete]

Originally Posted by dave m

Do dist condensors go bad due to age even when not in use---thanks

Most do.
Get one from Tubman. Guaranteed to last a 1000 years.

[Bored&Stroked]

I use Vertex magneto condensers on just about all my early Ford ignitions - they're not cheap, but they are well made. There are two .mf versions - the lower one is rated at about .24 mf, the one for higher output mags is .36 mf. I use TWO of the .36 .mf ones on my Harman Collins dual-points.

https://www.magsarus.com/vertex-magneto-parts.html

[kirkf]

Wasn't someone on here making a high quality condenser at one point?

Kirk

[Pete]

Originally Posted by kirkf

Wasn't someone on here making a high quality condenser at one point?

Kirk

See post #14.

[corvette8n]

Originally Posted by kirkf

Wasn't someone on here making a high quality condenser at one point?

Kirk

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=313899
Pm him for more info, I bought one a few years ago.

[tubman]

I'll jump in here and say that I am still making these condensers, but only have 5 left at the present time. I have the material to make my final 50, but I am leaving for Florida for the winter and will not be making more until I get back next spring.

I should also like to point out that these were specifically designed and made to replace the early Mallory "trash can" condensers and must be mounted externally to the distributor. As such, most of the cost of these is for the time and material it takes to make them look "right". They have also proved to be extremely reliable. I have sold over 400 of these without a single reported failure. Some of the originals from 2016 are still running today with no problems.

Here is a picture of one mounted on a "Rocket" Oldsmobile distributor with a Mallory dual point conversion inside. Also, since everyone likes pictures, I have included one of a W&H "DuCoil" for an early Olds with two of these all polished up.