MTFCA Forum

All four of my coils have leaking capacitors. how does everyone feel about the ones Lang's sells? Other recommendations?
Thanks

Have the coils rebuilt by an experienced rebuilder with the proper equipment. Ron Patterson, Brent Mize, and others. I've had Ron do mine - he replaces the capacitors, inspects the windings, installs new points and sets them up.

The capacitors from Lang's (and Snyders) are the correct high dv/dt type.

Greetings,

I'm new to the Model T world.

I'm just getting started trying to get a family member's 1914 T Roadster running.

Brent Mize has been kind enough to take on the coils that came with this vehicle and he has been extraordinarily patient answering many rookie questions.

I look forward to seeing his hard work, certainly 5 stars so far.

I'll also say this forum has been a wealth of information for which I am most grateful.

Kind Regards All,

Joe

It's a bit tedious, but you can rebuild them yourself if you're handy. You will need to repour the tar, and you will need a tester to set them up properly. Easiest to send them to one of the recommended rebuilders, but I'm cheap and like doing things myself.

If you (or others reading this) are situated in the EU, I'll be happy to rebuild your coils Cheaper shipping and no customs troubles.

I rebuilt all of my coils with capacitors and points from Lang's and they preform fine. I have had 1 set of points that the top contact came off from the arm.

Question answered! Thanks!

Re: "I have had 1 set of points that the top contact came off from the arm." /////// I had this happen with a set of KW points. The lower contact on one point set came off the steel spring. If your engine suddenly loses performance, this is one thing to visually check before you disturb anything else. In my case, the coil continued to fire, but the engine misfired at higher speeds. The situation rapidly got worse as the defective coil damaged the timer. Attempts to adjust the coils by ear worsened the problem. After damaging 2 good New Day timers and getting all 4 coils badly out of adjustment, I discovered the bad point set. I then repaired the bad point set with used parts sourced from a stationary engine and cleaned up the better timer as best I could, then tried to re-adjust the coils by ear. Failure. I adjusted the coils with the engine running and got better results, but still sub-par. A proper coil adjustment with an ECCT restored the engine to good performance at all speeds and ended the timer problems.

Pat Mc.
Some years ago there was a batch of points who where not good .
I had the same problem [see pictures ]
Toon

I had another issue with a set of used KW points failing after a few hundred miles. I believe that was due to my having filed away most all of the platinum from one of the point contacts, which allowed the steel beneath it to crater out.

Joe

welcome to the hobby and good luck in getting the family car running again

The new coils sold today are not up to old time standards, I have been told. You are better off finding four clean oild stock and rebuilding them. KW coils sold in the 1950s and 60s are good. If you find some NOs from that time period, they are great.

Steve they aren’t hard to repair. The caps sold
by the vendors are OK. Usually I remove the sliding door and gently pry off the short side next to the cap. Chipping out the tar and removing the cap is easy then. Solder in the new one and refill most of the space with wood bits. Save the tar I chip out and you’ll have enough to
Secure the loose parts. I melt my tar
In a Tin can outside with a propane torch. Done about 20 over the years.

Capacitor leakage does not degrade coil performance significantly unless it's very bad. I would not replace capacitors if the VALUE measures 0.47uF +/- 20% ( or 0.33uf to 0.56uF). Capacitors with lower value should be replaced in my experience.

At the La Brea Tar Pits. Just have to watch out for bones.

Steve, look for some one that does hot tar roofing, or a building supply company. If I remember correctly, it is type 3, or steep asphalt. I got mine from someone here on the forum that had some extra.

Steve before U go out and get a 5 gal. Pail of tar check this out: as I said I’ve done about 20 over the years. I always work over a few pieces of newspaper or cardboard. The reason is I recollect the chipped out tar. I solder in the new cap and cut a small piece of wood to take up the space left open. I guess U could even cut the old cap and use that. A small tin can with a spout bent into one end and a vice grip for a handle is my tar melting ladle. A propane torch, outside of course, provides the heat. The point is to lock everything in place and total coverage isn’t strictly necessary. I’ve never needed to buy any tar. As stated I pry off the thin end of the box. The capacitor side. Makes working very much easier. I usually leave the glass insulator in place also. A few drops of wood glue on the fingers hold the side in place if loose. Truthfully the biggest deal about repairing coils is having a pal with an HCCT.

I heartily endorse the 2 posts above by Charlie B in NJ.
Exactly what I would advise.

Side burner on the gas grill also works great for remelting the removed and recaptured tar. Melts easy so one does not need to use high flame low will do the job.

Steve, as Scott C. mentioned above, Type 3 steep roofing tar can be purchased from a local roofing company. I bought this 50lb bag for about $25 a number of years ago. I still have plenty left! Small bits don't chip off so easily in warm weather, but I'd be glad to send you a few lbs if you would like. Rich C.

. Putting a block of wood in works to conserve weight and tar.

A coil will operate without a capacitor at all for a short time, then the points will look like the photos above.

The last time I checked there didn't seem to be any points anyplace good enough for those coils.

For no more than you need, it is much cheaper to just send them to Ron or Brent, rather than gather all the tools an materials you need to do them yourself.

You will also get a much better product!

It is real easy to break one of those wires while removing the old capacitor and not have a working coil at all for your expense and hard work.

I have been there and done that several times, besides that tar stinks when heated and it often upsets the wife and sometimes explodes if heated too fast or hot.

I'm not here to tell anyone what to do. It's your hobby. For me, I like to do as much of my own work as possible. It's how I learn. It's how I feel connected. And it's how I feel confident in my equipment. So I chose to do them myself, and have no regrets. It was fun. And a peaceful few hours at the bench. Made blocks like one of the other posters, so I had plenty of tar to repot. As far as setting them up, I already wanted an ecct, as my research showed them to be the best choice for me. Luckily Mike Kosser is one town over. He set me up with an ecct and showed me how to tune them. It's just like he shows in his videos. Great tool. Really well thought out and executed. A good investment in my opinion. My coils turned out great

Good to hear you learned to do it yourself. Mike is a great guy. Willing to help anytime you need it.

I'd like to bring this thread back to the top.

I agree with certain posters and I am a definite "do it all myself" kind of guy.

That being said, this summer has been challenging in regards to my allowable time.

When I opened up the box and saw Brent's work, and then put them on the ECCT and found them all to be nominal, well, Brent is an Artisan of the highest order and I'm grateful for his skills.

The work on my wife's family "T" now continues.

Kind Regards All!

put them on the ECCT and found them all to be nominal,

That is a nice attribute of the ECCT, repeatability whithout having to read tea leaves and what it all means.

Beautiful work indeed.

All,

It was a great Mother's Day. Got the 1914 Roadster running and driving and was able to drive my mother in law around the farm. The T hadn't been started since the 70's as far as I know.

As of yet, we haven't used the electronic timer, I wanted to get it running as she was.

My thanks to the Coil Doctor, ECCTfolks, and Lang's.

The restoration continues.