Capacitor/condensor

[Already Gone]

Originally Posted by RichardJ

You won't find these two capacitors if the vehicle had "Radio Delete" on the original options list. In 50 years, people do add things.
The coil-side and the regulator capacitor would both be 0.5 Mfd, but different wire end connectors give them different part numbers. Ignition points condenser is around 0.2 Mfd (Micro Farads).

>>But the new regulator doesnt have points.<<

Not necessarily true. If you go buy a new one, you will find most retailers offering two different ones that look nearly the same. The original regulators had two relays inside them. You can now buy solid-state regulators that are cheaper, do not have the two wire resistors on the bottom, weight less than half the original and have no relays inside.

The condenser isn't needed if the new regulator is solid-state, but the provisions are there for it so I'd use it.





>>Take a look at the points in your old voltage regulator. If one side has a "hill" and the other side has a "crater", your capacitor is bad- or <<

The condenser, missing or not, will have no effect on the life of the contact points in the old relay style regulator.
You may need to read up on Induction Ignition Systems. Ignition points do not burn because there is 12 volts arcing across them. Ignition points burn because there is 350-400 volts arcing across them. Or, I should say, trying to arc across the points. The condensers job is partly to try and suck up as much of that 350 volts as it can to keep the points from burning.

My old one which is original to the truck looks like the bottom one and my new one looks lke the top one. I checked the points on the old regulator and they are even, no hills or valleys. The cap was riveted on the new one so I drilled it out and put the cap from the original on it. I will put the original capacitor/condenser on the new one too so it looks original.