Failing condensers

[hubster123]

Hi.... I’ve just put this on the sohc world forum, not knowing there is a UK one......

Can anyone give a reason for a condenser continuously failing.
I’ve replaced the condenser for 1 and 4 cylinders 4 times now with less than 100 miles on all of them put together.
Last night I was out on the bike and another one failed. Fortunately I was carrying another which failed after a couple of hundred yards. All four have been from different manufacturers


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[hubster123]

The scenario is bike running fine, then starts running really rough so that to get home I have to really keep the revs up. I feel the headers and 1 and 4 are cold.
I swapped the condensers round and 1 and 4 headers are hot while 2 and 3 are cold.
So I buy new condensers and the problem is solved for a short while. Then again, it starts running really rough and 1 and 4 headers are cold. So I replace the condenser for 1 and 4 and lo and behold the problem is solved again.. Then the same thing happens again, so I replace the condenser for 1 and 4 again... runs for a few miles no problem then it happens again... and so on and so forth


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[Johnwebley]

Are you sure it's the condensers?


It COULD be the coils.
As they warm up. They start to fail.

Are they original?



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[hubster123]

I don’t know if the coils are original as in fitted when new but they are stock ones.
Would a bad coil cause a condenser to fail though.. Like I say, if I fit a new condenser it all works fine but then that condenser (specifically for 1 and 4 cylinders) stops working


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[Johnwebley]

It could also be using R plugs and resistance plug caps.

Have you checked the caps to make sure they are not "burnt ".

They should measure 5k ohms.

Unlikely all the capacitors are faulty.



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[hubster123]

It could also be using R plugs and resistance plug caps.

Have you checked the caps to make sure they are not "burnt ".

They should measure 5k ohms.

Unlikely all the capacitors are faulty.



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Right....thanks.... Unfortunately I don’t really know what that means.. I can say though that I took the coils to my motorcycle mechanic in January and he checked them with a meter (all the readings were correct) and as per his recommendation, I changed the plug caps (NGK)..
I know where you’re coming from re it being unlikely that all the condensers are faulty, but when I put a new one on, the bike runs fine and if I swap the ‘faulty’ one (from 1 and 4) with the one that runs cylinders 2 and 3, then 2 and 3 won’t fire.


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[Johnwebley]

It could also be using R plugs and resistance plug caps.

Have you checked the caps to make sure they are not "burnt ".

They should measure 5k ohms.

Unlikely all the capacitors are faulty.



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Right....thanks.... Unfortunately I don’t really know what that means.. I can say though that I took the coils to my motorcycle mechanic in January and he checked them with a meter (all the readings were correct) and as per his recommendation, I changed the plug caps (NGK)..
I know where you’re coming from re it being unlikely that all the condensers are faulty, but when I put a new one on, the bike runs fine and if I swap the ‘faulty’ one (from 1 and 4) with the one that runs cylinders 2 and 3, then 2 and 3 won’t fire.


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The resistance in the plug cap burns out over time.

Massively increasing the resistance caused ignition problems.
If you have access to a multi meter you can check they are still 5.000 ohms




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[taysidedragon]

Did the problem start just after changing the plug caps?
They could be faulty or fakes, or not making a good connection with HT leads.
As John said, resisted caps and resisted plugs used together don't run properly.

[hubster123]

Did the problem start just after changing the plug caps?
They could be faulty or fakes, or not making a good connection with HT leads.
As John said, resisted caps and resisted plugs used together don't run properly.

No.... it was there beforehand.. What is strange is that if cylinders 1 and 4 stop working and I swap the condensers round, 1 and 4 work and 2 and 3 don’t.
Could faulty plug caps cause this issue?


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[Bryanj]

This one is a strange one, need to try and figure out what is the difference between the 2 ignition systems. I know its a pain but swopping the coil wiring and seing if the same condenser fails might be worth it.

[hubster123]

This one is a strange one, need to try and figure out what is the difference between the 2 ignition systems. I know its a pain but swopping the coil wiring and seing if the same condenser fails might be worth it.

Okay..... which wires would I swap. A friend suggested something along these lines and that I would also need to swap the ht leads round as well as the blue and yellow ones to the coils... but I couldn’t do this due to the lengths of the ht leads.


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[Bryanj]

You would need to swap ht as well, would they reach if you swopped the coils from one side to the other?

[hubster123]

Chaps... I’ve bitten the bullet and ordered the Dynatec coils and electronic ignition.... Thank you all very much for your comments and help...


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