How the Ignition Points and Condenser Work 

Old School Mechanic here, excellent video, thanks for posting it. Most young people have no idea how these old systems work. .

My 1st car was a '63 VW. So I had to know this to properly tune it up. You did a good job of explaining.

Like some, I came here to get a better understanding of what the condenser does in a points system. I have been working in the automotive industry for nearly 50 years. And I have been thoroughtly trained on ignition systems but it wasn't until I viewed your video I understood the true function of the condenser in a points ignition system. I will be dropping in occassionally to polish up on my skill. Thanks, and keep up the good work.

This is something that was easily understandable and definitely was well made. This is something my father did not teach me back in my early days, doing auto mechanics with him at the shop. Thank you for this information.

This was very easy to follow and precise. I can see how someone with no basic knowledge of the point system would be confused. I'm not sure I could have explained it any better. I miss the old days of having a points system on various engines. and I've got a dwell meter collecting dust now too. You helped me to better understand the function of the condenser. Thank You.

your videos are the most helpful and best explanation I have found on RU-vid. Good work!!!

I really appreciate your way of explaining things. You are articulate and are very easy to follow. I just picked up at sailboat with a 30hp Atomic 4 engine. Learning from you doesn't frustrate me. Keep it up 👍

You're a very good teacher 👍 kudos from the Philippines

Excellent presentation in the year 2021. I am empowered to sort out my 1981 Toyota Corolla with this knowledge. Thank you very much.

Dear friend a great thanks for your clear and accurate information. In less than 8 min you included all about a great chapter. You really are excellent ,you really solve too many questions. You are blessed.

I’ve done it loads & always just followed the method but this explains it well.

Finally, a great and easy explanation! Thank you.

Fantastic video. Very well done and very informative. Also, in my opinion, direct and to the point.

Thank you thank you thank you. I hope you still make videos and havnt stopped. You saved my entire project

Thank you for this in depth presentation, I am just starting to learn this stuff and I have a classic car that I am working on. This helps a lot!

Great job at explaining 👏👏thank you for your thorough presentation. I’m now going to look for other videos of yours as I am learning about cars. Doing my first restoration on 54 belair sports coupe and learning as I go. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.

Very good video. Lenz law explains the induction that is created in the coil which raises the voltage from 12 to about 24000 every time the platinum contacts open. Induction due to change of the magnetic field. The change is the opening of the primary circuit. I`m 60 so I miss changing the points and the condensers in my cars which I did 40 years ago. Thank You .

Good refresher... Just got a classic car with points. I dusted off my Snap-on dwell meter, that I have not used in probably more than 20 years, set the points and dwell, but I could not remember what the dwell represented. I found myself saying "oh yeah" a lot during your video. Thanks!

Such an amazing video, perfectly explained.

Well done; very good explanation. Thanks for doing this!

I came here to learn what a condenser does, but I learned that it's not something I need to dwell on.

Thank you Sir for such a good explanation!

hey it might be old but its still relevant! good job. i have a 79 cb650 that of course runs a system like this. Having been in cars,machines my whole life its always seemed to simple to me i thought id look into it alittle more in depth since i never really have, i just learned from experience. I dunno what i expected its basic old stuff.. which is why i like my old bike- i can always get it running if theres a problem. even the very very old starter solenoid that melted together... i opened it up and desolsered and filed and resolder and repotted with epoxy and it works as good as anything...they wanted 120$ for a damn solenoid for 79cb650

great video

Well done! Old school never dies.

thank you , you really helped me out .

Hello from Germany . This channel is a blessing! thx 4 sharing... One thing though ... If you could speak a bit slower,- that would help non native speakers a lot :-) Thank you.

Excellent. Very informative.

Well done, excellent information and presentation. Best wishes.

There are thousands and thousands of small engines (and old cars) that still use points and condensers. I used to change points and condensers on my old cars when I was a kid but I never knew what the condenser did and no one could tell me other than change them in sets. Now I know.

Outstanding presentation of these details. I LEARNED TODAY, because of your communication skills!!!

That was so helpful! Thanks and really, great job!

So good!

Great job my brother!

Super helpful. Thanks

Awesome, dude! Thank you.

Clear and understandable. Thanx man.

Lol thats the newest dwell / tach ive seen. Looks to be solid-state even. Thanks for explanation video

Great job

very well done!

I worked as a tech for years and now about 15 years after the fact I learned something new in this video. Well done!

This excellent, thank you!

Great video!

you have a dwell meter 🤤🖤

What will happen if car have bad condenser..will it affect if the car wont start?

Good job explaining how points and condenser work. This is a lost knowledge in today's world where young techs were never exposed to this knowledge.

Informattive video, but I want to know more about is what coil is compatible with what points set, and if the stator amperage matters!!?.. Thanks!!

Fantastic explanation!

the condenser is very important it has match the coil for max spark a mis match dumps voltage thru the points pitting them so if points are pitting change the condenser -clean points

I have a question / problem; 81 ford 300 inline 6cyl, I put an older motor in with a points distributor, so disconnected the electronic module, ran a hot to my coil, it ran fine.... then let it sit for a while and now no spark from coil wire, I have 12 power on both terminals of coil , but no spark....I changed coil with a new one and no different. ...going to put new points and condenser. I saw your video about the resistor, I think I'm going to need to add one, thanks for any help

Nice job on the video! One thought, correct me if wrong, but if you adjust the point gap at the lowest point of the cam, then would the circuit ever be closed to power the coil?

if you are having tbl. with points pitting you have wrong condencer installed the coil and condencer r value have cancell one another i have been running same cond. in my army trk 7 yrs now i found the right cond. in my case its a standard AL118 it matches my coil jumps 3/4 inch

I’m working on a 6v positive ground system. Does the negative side of the coil still connect to the distributor or is it switched with the positive?

Very informative. Does it matter the length of wire on the Condenser? ACDelco has a Condenser (Capacitor) with a very long wire D222 (19142671). What would be the Benefit or Drawback of having the longer wire?

I got a free M5 military generator 4-cylinder Hercules Flathead engine, Hobart company. My on and off switch is floppy, and I had it going the motor running.since the on and off switch is bad I disconnect the battery.now everytime I hook up the battery. Ignition coil gets hot and starts smoking. What do you think is wrong?

Quick question have a broken condenser with a .47 uf rating..can I replace it with a .25uf rating? Thanks.

please add to your discussion the distributor CONDENSER of a Toyota corolla 16valve engine, why is it that the condenser of my 16 valve engine has two wires?

Does the point gap change when you adjust the dwell and vice/versa?

Was into a team when eldest sibling was building a kit car and talking about this shit. Now im a mobile mechanic. The irony of it. Yep he's a washing machine engineer. I went to a job the other day and the garage was full of cars like the queen has but white. 9 cars all set with 2 metres space between each of them. Anyway, the spark was great and it had 2 condensers. one on the body where coil was and connected to the ground. The other in distributor. Is having 2 condensers a mistake or better than just having one...?

Do you think a ignition condenser can make turbos act up

Is the condenser a resistive ground or a capacitor?

What guage wire is used in the ignition system ...14 guage?

put correct value condenser of it will pitt the points it has match the coil to get max spark.

you need to know the mfd value of the cond, for this circuit it has to match the coil you need orig. part #of cond tons of them look alike buts the way the are wound inside that makes them diff for instance mr army trk mfd value is 27 that producesa 3/4 inch spark when tested wit screw driver inserted in plug wire to gd the arc will drop big time with wrong condencer

I took out Pertronix I install 100 miles ago in my 1972 2.0 Pinto and put points back in because the car was back firing, tac jumping up and down, I'm just done with that after market crap. Car runs awesome again on points, Now I'm trying to get them to just refund me for it, Hassle. I'm making a youtube on the whole ordeal. ?? I ran my pinto around the block a few times with the 40,000 volt Flamethrower coil part# 40511 that came with the pertronix as a kit USING THE POINTS and it seems peppy, But I'm hearing on some google sites that it's not good to run a hot coil like that with points. because it will burn your points faster. I'm putting the Stock Pinto coil I have from the 70s back in because of what I'm reading about the hot coil no no. ANY BODY WANT TO CHIME IN ON HOT WITH POINTS???