Condenser question for pstephens46

[boscoe99]

Yamaha uses the term "condenser" for what some will call a capacitor.

Is this similar to referring to a solenoid as a relay? Or a switch as sensor when the switch is being used to sense?

Can battery cables be known as a "wire harness"?

Can one word have two, or more, meanings?

Can one thing be known by two, or more, words?

If a man is deep in a forest, a thousand miles from his wife, and he speaks, is he still wrong?

[99yam40]

what is the real meaning of the word "condenser"?
what does it condense?

[pstephens46]

What did I do to deserve this?

[99yam40]

you asked too many questions or maybe answered some.
Who knows for sure

[boscoe99]

what is the real meaning of the word "condenser"?
what does it condense?

I guess one answer might be electricity. It condenses and holds it for a while.

You are old enough to remember changing the points and the condenser in a distributor I would imagine.

It has been much too slow here for quite a while. Maybe some subjects will cause folks to think. Type. OK, type. Scratch the thinking part. lol

[99yam40]

Yes,
I was a auto Tech back in the 70s, so I changed quite a few.

Its purpose was to help break the DC from arcing(burning up) across the point contacts.
at least the points usually burned up or transferred metal(welded together) when the condenser went bad

[pstephens46]

I guess one answer might be electricity. It condenses and holds it for a while.

You are old enough to remember changing the points and the condenser in a distributor I would imagine.

It has been much too slow here for quite a while. Maybe some subjects will cause folks to think. Type. OK, type. Scratch the thinking part. lol

Points were awful. Dad would say "turn the key off and quit listening to the stereo, you gonna burn those points" I think that was BS to get us out of the car and off our azzes.

Fuel injection and electronic ignition has made cars so much better. Remember cold mornings? How about driving in the mountains?

[ausnoelm]

Condenser is simply an old term for a capacitor, manufacturing changed considerably from the old wax covered ones, but just a name change really.

[pstephens46]

Yes,
I was a auto Tech back in the 70s, so I changed quite a few.

Its purpose was to help break the DC from arcing(burning up) across the point contacts.
at least the points usually burned up or transferred metal(welded together) when the condenser went bad

I had a distributor cap from an old station wagon we owned. The engine was running really rough, Dad tried a few things, then took to the shop.

Underside of cap had these hard carbon deposits, shaped like a cobweb. Making connections where connections shouldn't be. Wish I still had it.

[ausnoelm]

Carbon tracking was very common in distributor caps, condensers/capacitors can store DC (you can't store AC) and appear to pass AC, they have quite specific functions.

[99yam40]

carbon tracts

even the rotors would get them from time to time and take the spark to ground thru the shaft itself

[boscoe99]

Even with the condenser, it seemed I was constantly having to file the points because of arcing damage. Remember the points file?

Then the composite follower doohicky would wear and cause the point gap to change. Absent a feeler gauge I recall using a paper match book cover as the clearance tool. Everyone smoked then and match books were given away at darn near every restaurant. With advertising on them. Union made. Remember the bug?

Some points and condenser kits would come with a small packet of grease to lube the distributor cam shaft.

Going back a ways I had a VW bus with a 6 volt system. Points and condenser. Some times in the morning it would not start. Push it off, get it going, and it would run fine the rest of the day.

Those were the good ole days. I miss them.

[99yam40]

if the points were burning like that the condenser or a connection was bad or going bad.
thing about those days was you could make the motor run and get you home fairly easily.

I thought all the sets of points and condensers had a small packet of lube to put on the felt lucubration wiper to keep the wear down

only time I could not make it home with the vehicle under it's on power was when I lost oil pressure in my 65 Tbird.
hitched hiked back to Waco from a trip heading to Austin and picked up a shop truck and tow bar to drag it back home

[pstephens46]

Even with the condenser, it seemed I was constantly having to file the points because of arcing damage. Remember the points file?

Then the composite follower doohicky would wear and cause the point gap to change. Absent a feeler gauge I recall using a paper match book cover as the clearance tool. Everyone smoked then and match books were given away at darn near every restaurant. With advertising on them. Union made. Remember the bug?

Some points and condenser kits would come with a small packet of grease to lube the distributor cam shaft.

Going back a ways I had a VW bus with a 6 volt system. Points and condenser. Some times in the morning it would not start. Push it off, get it going, and it would run fine the rest of the day.

Those were the good ole days. I miss them.

VW with about 70hp?
Hot azz engine in back during summer, fumes etc. Don’t miss that a bit. Although I think it would be cool to have one of those Kubelwagen convertible things. Called the Thing and sold in the US after WW II.

[boscoe99]

if the points were burning like that the condenser or a connection was bad or going bad.
thing about those days was you could make the motor run and get you home fairly easily.

I thought all the sets of points and condensers had a small packet of lube to put on the felt lucubration wiper to keep the wear down

only time I could not make it home with the vehicle under it's on power was when I lost oil pressure in my 65 Tbird.
hitched hiked back to Waco from a trip heading to Austin and picked up a shop truck and tow bar to drag it back home

Must have been a connection or other problem. The points and plugs never seemed to go more than about 3000 miles without needing to be adjusted or replaced.

Thinking about it now, why was a new condenser provided? Not much in them to fail.