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bug1200
Samba Member
Joined: July 07, 2015
Posts: 222
Location: Philippines
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 Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 6:49 pm Post subject: Ignition condenser dilemma on my car! |
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Hey all, I've posted this question in other forums and got no specific answer...
To sum it all up:
There was a "condenser" looking thing on the distributor of my car that has 2 wires, one battery voltage and one to the coil. the wire from the battery volt side broke... I was wondering what it was as I know that condensers were only used on contact point type ignitions. Mine's electronic BTW.
So I asked in a different forum and was told that the "condenser" was, in fact, a ballast resistor which reduces output to the coil to 9V. since the "resistor" couldn't be bought separately (comes only with a whole distributor), I had to find a way to solder it back together.
After hours trying to solder what little wire still remains at its tip, I was finally able to make a somewhat acceptable connection. so to test the theory that it is in fact a resistor, I brought out my multimeter and tested voltage before and after this "thing". Guess what, it showed approx. 12V before and after the "thing".
Making matters even more difficult, I was able to find the service manual of the car and found out that the "thing" really, actually, is in fact, a condenser! Although unlike a "conventional" condenser which is located on the negative side, this one is on the battery voltage side.
Question is, why is a condenser still used in a modern electronic ignition? why on the positive side? think i could bypass it without doing any harm? or atleast replace it with an older one wire condenser?
Thanks!
Last edited by bug1200 on Sun Sep 30, 2018 6:57 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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bug1200
Samba Member
Joined: July 07, 2015
Posts: 222
Location: Philippines
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| Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 6:55 pm Post subject: Re: Ignition condenser dilemma on my car! |
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Here are some pics:
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Hoxviii
Samba Member
Joined: September 28, 2018
Posts: 14
Location: PA
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| Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 7:11 pm Post subject: Re: Ignition condenser dilemma on my car! |
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| All condenser is is another name for a capacitor; it's probably just a filter capacitor to knock down electrical interference. |
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bug1200
Samba Member
Joined: July 07, 2015
Posts: 222
Location: Philippines
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| Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 8:42 pm Post subject: Re: Ignition condenser dilemma on my car! |
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| Hoxviii wrote: |
| All condenser is is another name for a capacitor; it's probably just a filter capacitor to knock down electrical interference. |
Thanks, so maybe it would be safe to assume that I could eliminate it without any major problem? |
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Hoxviii
Samba Member
Joined: September 28, 2018
Posts: 14
Location: PA
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| Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 9:27 pm Post subject: Re: Ignition condenser dilemma on my car! |
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| bug1200 wrote: |
| Hoxviii wrote: |
| All condenser is is another name for a capacitor; it's probably just a filter capacitor to knock down electrical interference. |
Thanks, so maybe it would be safe to assume that I could eliminate it without any major problem? |
I wouldn't go so far as to say that; newer computerized stuff is sensitive to EMI and RFI due to all of the sensors involved. But what you could do is have the condenser unit tested for capacitance (or find the spec), and go out and buy a 25v capacitor or 10 of the correct capacitance and replace the unit and have plenty of spares to keep you on the road. |
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bug1200
Samba Member
Joined: July 07, 2015
Posts: 222
Location: Philippines
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| Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 10:25 pm Post subject: Re: Ignition condenser dilemma on my car! |
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| Hoxviii wrote: |
| bug1200 wrote: |
| Hoxviii wrote: |
| All condenser is is another name for a capacitor; it's probably just a filter capacitor to knock down electrical interference. |
Thanks, so maybe it would be safe to assume that I could eliminate it without any major problem? |
I wouldn't go so far as to say that; newer computerized stuff is sensitive to EMI and RFI due to all of the sensors involved. But what you could do is have the condenser unit tested for capacitance (or find the spec), and go out and buy a 25v capacitor or 10 of the correct capacitance and replace the unit and have plenty of spares to keep you on the road. |
Well, I searched and found that most condensers are rated at 0.22 microfarads...
you think a regular capacitor would work? wont it melt or explode? ive got lots of condensers for the vw bug though, only problem is its got one wire...
Thanks. |
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cbeck
Samba Member
Joined: January 14, 2014
Posts: 2495
Location: high ridge, mo
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| Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 3:34 pm Post subject: Re: Ignition condenser dilemma on my car! |
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All of the capacitors I have seen on electric motors have 2 connections.
_________________
My cut in half and rebuild thread
www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=647779 |
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Hoxviii
Samba Member
Joined: September 28, 2018
Posts: 14
Location: PA
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| Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 5:04 pm Post subject: Re: Ignition condenser dilemma on my car! |
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| cbeck wrote: |
| All of the capacitors I have seen on electric motors have 2 connections. |
Look at the diagram, the capacitor only has two connections; it taps from the BW wire to F4 at the distributor, likely via the mounting screw.
So the 2 pin weathertight connector in the picture is just BW to BW, but inside the unit the capacitor connects to BW and grounds to F4.
You could have 50 pins on the outside of the thing, internal construction is all that matters.
In that image call the top bar of the "T" BW-BW and the leg "F4" and you'll see that's exactly what's shown in the wiring diagram. |
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bug1200
Samba Member
Joined: July 07, 2015
Posts: 222
Location: Philippines
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| Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 8:57 pm Post subject: Re: Ignition condenser dilemma on my car! |
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| yeah, i know that the condenser only has two connections. one to battery, one to ground. the ground is on the mounting, while the 2 BW wires are "spliced" or connected together on the inside. just dont like connecting three wires together on the outside, (BW, BW, and the capacitor wire) |
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Hoxviii
Samba Member
Joined: September 28, 2018
Posts: 14
Location: PA
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| Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2018 9:42 pm Post subject: Re: Ignition condenser dilemma on my car! |
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| bug1200 wrote: |
| yeah, i know that the condenser only has two connections. one to battery, one to ground. the ground is on the mounting, while the 2 BW wires are "spliced" or connected together on the inside. just dont like connecting three wires together on the outside, (BW, BW, and the capacitor wire) |
Get some heat shrink tube?
I don't know what to tell you other than what it's there for and how it's wired.
After that? Find the appropriate condenser, or equivalent capacitor and wiring and dive in. You can patch the wiring about 200 times for each distributor replacement. |
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bug1200
Samba Member
Joined: July 07, 2015
Posts: 222
Location: Philippines
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| Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 4:23 am Post subject: Re: Ignition condenser dilemma on my car! |
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| Hoxviii wrote: |
| bug1200 wrote: |
| yeah, i know that the condenser only has two connections. one to battery, one to ground. the ground is on the mounting, while the 2 BW wires are "spliced" or connected together on the inside. just dont like connecting three wires together on the outside, (BW, BW, and the capacitor wire) |
Get some heat shrink tube?
I don't know what to tell you other than what it's there for and how it's wired.
After that? Find the appropriate condenser, or equivalent capacitor and wiring and dive in. You can patch the wiring about 200 times for each distributor replacement. |
Oh yeah, heat shrink! Hopefully the spare vw bug condenser I have would work without issue...
Thank you very much for your input and help in this dilemma of mine! |
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bug1200
Samba Member
Joined: July 07, 2015
Posts: 222
Location: Philippines
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 8:14 am Post subject: Re: Ignition condenser dilemma on my car! |
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Just to give a quick update on my condenser issue,
I've installed the vw bug condenser, and noticed no difference whatsoever... But just out of curiosity I tried bypassing the condenser by disconnecting its wire; surprisingly, the car ran better, a lot better... Though the car took 2 clicks to start and there was a slight whining sound in the radio. I then reinstalled the old (original 2 wire) condenser and it ran the way it did before (before all this), and again ran better when bypassed. I test installed the [vw] condenser on my bug just to be sure that its working...
Either way, I still decided to install the [vw] condenser just to be on the safe side. |
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