VCCA Home Forums Thread Like Summary - Will it run withhout a condenser?

This might be more of a general discussion topic but I started it here because it is electrical.

I am interested in any experiences trying to run a engine on a points ignition system without a condenser in the circuit. I have never tried it. I think it might run but not very well. I am not asking about a failed condenser.

I assume that if it will run the points will arc heavily and transfer a lot of material quickly. A key factor will be whether the points gap gets large enough that the current will no longer arc between the points. If the arc never goes away the field in the coil will never collapse to make the plugs spark. The timing will vary quite a bit because the arc is not consistent.

My father and his brother restored and showed hit and miss engines from the early 1900's. Some of them had a crude points system that triggered a spark from a coil when the points opened. The points did arc so needed "dressing" often. A key difference is that these engines ran at 300 to 400 rpm and only fired every stroke under load. There was no condenser in those circuits.

Any thoughts?

This is a pretty good explanation of the basic system, only difference is NO ballast resistor on the 1929-32 Chevrolets ;0

goes over basic parts, functions, and what they do in an ignition cycle

How Battery Ignition System Works