Reply To: Coil conversion

[Tom]

The 0.30 uF reading is fine, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. Magneto condenser testers function at a significant voltage (above 100 V) and measure the leakage. Very typical of a leaky condenser is seeing one or two sparks when you rotate the flywheel, then none after that. If you’re trying to start a motor, you might get one or two pops, which encourages you to keep trying. The WICO brass can condensers are notorious for this. Since you have a new one, try it and see if it makes a difference. Or get them both tested on a Stevens, Heathkit, or Merc-O-Tronic device, or even one of those simple ones with the neon light. As an aside, I recently went through a bin of condensers that had been saved by a friend. There were over 50 condensers. I tested them at 200 V with a Heathkit C-2. There were two good ones in the pile. One was a new OMC, the other was an original condenser from a Johnson A.

T