RE: [ihc] ignition coil condenser

[Tom Harais <THarais@xxxxxxxxx>]

Uh guys:

I'm no electronics expert, but I've always understood the capacitor inside
of the distributor's function to be that of a "choke" or "shock absorber"
which prevents the points from arcing when they first get close together as
the distributor cam allows and then again when they break contact as the cam
continues to rotate.  That was why you no longer saw them on electronic
ignitions.  

I do remember, back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, that a sometimes
cause of backfiring on an engine with a points distributor was failure of
the condenser.  And, IIRC when you purchased a "tune up kit" for such
vehicles, a new condenser was included along with the points.

Of course, I can't remember the last time I played with a points distributor
even on my archaic IH vehicle. :-)

Tom H., '76 Traveler