I finally figured out the problem

I have been jacking with my 1949 C trying to get it to run better. It has been running rough at full speed. I changed carbs, cleaned fuel, set timing, set point gap, new plugs, new wires and it still ran the same. I dont know why this would matter, but the condensor was very loose inside the loop that holds it in place, I changed loops so that it fit tightly, and suddenly the tractor runs perfect. Does the condensor have to ground through the loop or something. This is the only thing that resolved the rough running.I have been loosing sleep over how poorly this tractor had been running.

The engine will run with an open condenser, but point life is short, spark is thin and yellow, not fat and blue.

Gerald J.

Cheer up Lou, better days are coming....

To your specific question, Craig, the condenser ground is through its case to the body of the distributer. The "loop" you mention, if loose, means that you will have an intermittent ground at best. When tight, there's a good ground from the condenser case to the distributer body.

Bob, thought I might be the only one with that issue! Happy to know that I have company. LOL

Coke, most capacitors have two leads. One is normaly tied to ground. The condensor second lead is the case, thus must be tied to ground to complete the circuit. HTH

Coke, clear your mind because I think you are cornfused hehehhehe.
First off to understand basic ign you need to understand how a transformer works which is basically what a coil is. In order to induce voltage in the secondary windings (they make the circuit to the plugs) you must first collapse the field in the primary windings. You collapse that field by interrupting the flow of current in the primary winding by the use of breaker points. Now that interuption needs to be quick and clean. Points alone will arc therfore the arc is suppressed by the condenser (which is just a capacitor). Now here is the tricky part........while the points are closed the condenser is shorted out and current is flowing in the primary windings. When the points break current will then try to go to ground through the condenser however the condenser no longer being shorted by the points will begin to charge thus stopping the flow of current in the primary winding. This all happens in a nanosecond. The key here is the condenser is what actually stops the current flow and not the points because of the condenser capacitance time constant.
Clear Now!

Now to throw a wrench in your theory. A capacitor will store voltage and is not grounded internally . To test capacitors we used a Champion sand blast cabinet with plug check system. We charged the capacitor with high voltage from plug lead, then set on metal bench, and shorted the lead to bench with insulated probe, if it arced it was good. If no voltage was stored then it was bad.

the condenser must be like a battery that is charged and discharged in nano seconds. the wire is the + terminal and the loop or holder is the - side, if i got it straight. i really think they are full of smoke, like all electrical devises, it is just a matter of time until they let it out and do not work again. lol.

Coils and capacitors both store energy. A coil resists changing the current, so when the circuit opens the voltage jumps, Electrical engineers call that V = L di/dt, e.g. the voltage is a function of the rate of change of current. A capacitor resists changing the voltage, so the capacitor current I = C dv/dt, the current is highest when the voltage changes most rapidly. When the points open, the voltage at the capacitor is minimum and the current in the coil is maximum. Energy gets swapped between the coil and the capacitor a few times rapidly causing the blue spark. No capacitor the spark is thin and yellow because there's no oscillation and the points burn rapidly from the arcing.

Gerald J.

Magic is right, from the old coil box with constant spark caused by vibrating point on coil. To solid state ignition systems where a magnetic pickup mounted on crank all create a spark. The little capacitor (condenser) is still a marvel.