Condenser question

[Janicholson]

SO.....will the Ford work in the IH???

Yes. The only 2 challenges are fit. and watching for point wear. The current practices with ignitions in farm tractors with Kettering ignitions is to change out coils for parts store or one off of a chevy truck out back with zero thought for mfd rating. We change voltages and compression ratios and spark wires all the time. Run it. An old fashioned analog ohm meter will show a shorted or open condenser easily. Discharge the condenser by touching the lead to the body. Set the ohm meter to RX1 or lowest. Attach either lead to the body and the other to the wire lead. the meter should go up scale then move back to zero. The meter is actually charging the condenser with a few volts. If it does this it is likely OK. if it reads zero immediately, it is likely shorted. If it reads infinity and does not move it is open internally and also bad. Jim

 

[wore out]

We bought out an estate,old fella had worked on cubs,A, super A ,C Farmalls and N series, hundred series Fords. We now own a couple dozen condensers. ( And points) Question about condensers, some are IH , some are Ford. What is the difference? Other than slight size? Will the ford work in an IH distributor? If they fit. Why or why not?

Looking at the O.P.'s original post again, in the photo FD75 is a condenser (supposed to be .28 mfd) and IH2958 is supposed to be a breaker point set.

Kevin, is there a condenser or a breaker point set in the IH2958 box?

 

[grandpa Love]

Looking at the O.P.'s original post again, in the photo FD75 is a condenser (supposed to be .28 mfd) and IH2958 is supposed to be a breaker point set.

Kevin, is there a condenser or a breaker point set in the IH2958 box?

Hmmm.....I took a condenser out of the box.

 

[wore out]

Hmmm.....I took a condenser out of the box.

Photo from the Standard Ignition catalog.
(I should gave cropped out the extra stationary point at the bottom of the photo!)

 

[grandpa Love]

View attachment 67841
Photo from the Standard Ignition catalog.
(I should gave cropped out the extra stationary point at the bottom of the photo!)

Guess the old guy had something in a wrong box

 

[John T]

Thoroughly disagree....not all "Chinese crap". Brand new points from Napa have been fine. They are made in Mexico. But tractor supply condensers have been fine ,too ..who knows where they come from. In today's global economy,I find a positive attitude helps. Maybe you just wish them to be bad and so they are!. I hope they are good and therefore they are.. my Chinese phone, computer,and a million other products are good

I know two professional mag rebuilders who told me almost half of the new condensers they purchase are either out of spec or totally fails and they have purchased from different quality vendors. Of course this is only what a couple professional rebuilders experienced over many years perhaps other of us gents have had different experiences ?? While not a professional but using capacitor testing and measurements my personal experience was over half tested within specs. As with many things different users professionsl or not have had different experiences. This is only what I and a couple professionals experienced I’m sure others may have better or perhaps even worse experience buying new confessors.

John T. Shop wisely do your research hope you get a good product b

 

[Hobo,NC]

We bought out an estate,old fella had worked on cubs,A, super A ,C Farmalls and N series, hundred series Fords. We now own a couple dozen condensers. ( And points) Question about condensers, some are IH , some are Ford. What is the difference? Other than slight size? Will the ford work in an IH distributor? If they fit. Why or why not?

Like a weak coil a condenser is difficult to diagnose. You have to build on techniques to confirm the health of the rest of the system. Yes a new condenser off the self is a gamble these days. I get a tractor hauled in once in awhile the new condenser is bad. I don't have a tester for a condenser I don't need one. I have a old new stash of ignition parts. Seal them up keep inside in a dry place. Once points corrode they will always be A problem.

 

[fusion1]

Has any one ever loaded a condenser up and then hand it to someone
LOL

 

[TomA in CA]

I don't believe good points are being made anymore. Old points found in magnetos have a thick piece of contact material (tungsten?) bonded on. These can be refaced. To my knowledge all new points are plated, once the plating burns, wears they are done.

 

[NDIHC]

Has any one ever loaded a condenser up and then hand it to someone
LOL

My auto tech instructor used to do that. We had a couple of guys who liked to sleep during classroom time. The instructor would have one charged up, yell the name of whoever was sleeping and throw the condenser to him.
Being half asleep, they'd always try and catch it. That'll wake you up!