farmall condenser

Indiana George · Jun 24, 2016

Can I use an automotive condenser on a farmall C? Or the condenser from an older riding mower on a farmall c?

504 · Jun 24, 2016

rankrank1 · Jun 24, 2016

Yes, My dad saved all his old condensers over the years when he did tune-ups. I have continued that practice and inherited his scrap bucket of condensers when he passed a couple decades ago. It has come in handy on many occasions

When I suspect a condenser has gone bad on me I dig through the bucket and find one that will mount in the space and has a long enough wire to hook up. I have even used small block chevy condensers which are 12 volt systems on old 6 volt tractors and they work fine.

That all said, I do this to troubleshoot and get the tractor back running to finish the job at hand. I eventually go to the parts store (when it is convenient for me) and get the proper replacement condenser for the application. That may be 2 or 3 weeks later...

John T · Jun 25, 2016

Many (not all) standard old style battery powered coil and points and condenser ignitions use "approximately" the same value of capacitor (condenser) so many will still "work" in different applications. In theory the capacitor is rated to correspond with the coils inductance and impedance so there's a balanced/matched RLC circuit, but they still "work" even if not the ideal perfect matched LC combination. If the condenser is too small or none at all a spark can still be produced although weaker and the points burn up prematurely, if its too big there may be no spark at all but the points will last a long time lol.

HOWEVER its been my experience in a Magneto ignition the condenser rating is more critical in which case you want the correct MFD value

I have found a lot of old used condensors are still fine, while so many new right out of the box are junk

John T

farmall condenser

Indiana George

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504

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rankrank1

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John T

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