My 67 F100 has a 352 with 91000 original miles and runs well. I have only had it a short while and have been reading that some folks recommend replacing the condenser and points with an electronic ignition. I have been considering the Pertronix Ignitor since it can use the regular coil and has a stock appearance with the only new components under the distributor cap. Also, I am keeping the truck as original as possible and this is not a performance engine at all. When I started looking at my coil more closely I noticed what seems to be an additional condenser mounted outside of the distributor. One terminal on the coil goes to the points in the distributor, and the other terminal is for the ignition, but this “condenser” is also wired to the ignition terminal. The way it is wired it looks like the PO has added this. Can anyone shed light on this arrangement? Thanks

 

This isn't a condenser, it's this: C6OZ-18832-A .. Capacitor, used for radio resistance.

 

Thanks Bill. Were these commonly mounted here? I thought these were connected at the voltage regulator, but apparently not in this case. Perhaps a dealer installation of the radio by the look of the wiring.

 

I've seen it in both places, it's the same puppy.

 

a Condenser is a Capacitor .... adding a capacitor to the + side of a coil acts to smooth Voltage changes... ie used as Noise suppressor on the DC voltage supply

the electronic function of a Capacitor is to Oppose Changes in Voltage.... nothing more .... when voltage increases the capacitor charges to that level to avoid spikes when the voltage drops the capacitor discharges to oppose the change there by Smoothing the voltage Transients

I'm sure Bill has the exact correct part numbers .... but the function of Capacitor and Condenser electronically speaking are Identical... the Values of the components may however be different in Microfarads

 

C9AZ-12300-A (replaced B7A-12300-C) .. Condenser (Motorcraft DC-13A)

Most 1957/73 V8 FoMoCo vehicles, 1974/75 FoMoCo V8 vehicles without DuraSpark.

 

and Bill do you show Microfarad values for either of these components ?
my guess is probably not

a standard value of the Capacitor/condenser would be like 0.22 to .5 MFD with a voltage rating of about 500 Volts for the points while the suppressor capacitor is probably higher MFD rating however the voltage rating may still be the same.

 

Good guess. Hell, I don't even know what a Microfarad is!

 

Love you my Friend.... and as others here have said it will be a Sad day when you no longer post them partnumbers... I'm 75 now and I'm just trying to make a few posts that might help some folks .... I was referring to a post by someone else that said we must save your Brain

Good part man is damned near non existent anymore.... Kudos to you

90% of my crap is on microfiche too and I don't own a smart phone and don't want one either

 

Years ago in radio work capacitors were called condensers. For some reason the name stuck with ignition condensers. The external capacitors were used for radio noise suppression to avoid local interference, meaning everyone around you not just your radio. In the shop manual they show them connected from Armature to Ground at both the voltage regulator itself as well as the generator, so it must have been a problem. The truck wiring was acting as an antenna and broadcasting noise far and wide. Capacitors installed at the regulator armature terminal should also help with the longetivity of the vibrating points inside the regulator.

The capacitance would need to be about 0.5MFD or more for effective radio noise suppression, pretty hefty size capacitance wise. An ignition condenser installed there for this purpose might not work but it could help a little. I'm sure these critters caused some confusion back in the day, because they look a lot like ignition condensers and people are still asking about them today.

Before resistor plugs and plug wires, cars and trucks simply driving by your house could temporarily conk out reception on your TV. RFI under the hood in general causes trouble even in modern vehicles because of all the computers, fly by wire components and sensors and gee-gaws and they go to a lot of testing to make sure it doesn't become a factor. MFD, or microfarad, is also an obsolete term. They use µF in place of MFD now. Gotta keep people guessing, I suppose.

 

I had one but a wheel fell off and the radiator leaked so I traded it for a Yugo..

 

.
(sigh) Another young 'un, what's the world coming to?

Got you by 4 months...

 

Maybe we could call it a Capacidensor. Anyway, thanks to Bill tipping me off to the fact that it was related to the radio I searched my manuals and found this. Thanks all.

 

Hi. I was doing an internet search to find out what this thing is and it seems i found my answer. would it be fair to say that this component has 0 to do with the engine running? Phrased another way, the engine should run without it exactly the same as it would with it?
Thanks

 

Yes, that is correct. That capacitor has nothing to do with ignition or engine running. I don't have one on my truck and I find no difference in anything.