Rear Alternator Condensor

[JAG]

I have a 1966 337A. My rear condenser is mounted to the firewall just in front of the alternator. I have disconnected it, but have had no issues with noise or problems with the alternator or radios.

Jeff

[bking]

Jeff, thanks for your comment and could you share why you disconnected the rear condenser?

Thank you,

Bill King

[JAG]

Hi Bill,
Sorry - I should have mentioned why I disconnected it. I thought I had an output issue from the alternator, and in my troubleshooting, I disconnected it. It turns out, that was not my problem, but after sending out the alternator (no fault found), and then subsequently swapping it with the front one (not a fun troubleshooting exercise!), there was nothing wrong with that alternator or the system. It turns out, the one alternator just needs more RPM than the other to start producing output.

Long story, I know. I have not hooked the condenser back up yet, but have noticed no problems (noise) in the system not having it either.

Jeff

[mshac]

Just know that a condenser and a capacitor are one in the same. They act as a small "reservoir" of current, catching small spikes, and smoothing temporary low voltage situations. If you've ever had an RV, think of it as the rubber bladder that stores a bit of water pressure before the pump has to kick in. Unless there is electrical noise or interference with your radios, I would not be overly concerned about it.

[bking]

My apologies for not replying to you both sooner but was waiting to hear back from the Cessna/Textron piston support group. They were very helpful and took the time to pull the original electrical drawings that went back to the 336 days. The drawings did show a condenser connected to the rear alternator but the engineers could not explain why and suggest that if I had any radio noise that might be a fix.

I think i'll take mshac's advice and not worry about it.

Thank you,

Bill King

[SkyMac]

I removed my rear condenser a couple of years back, no noticeable effect.

Dave

[wslade2]

As I understand it, condensers (noise filters) were necessary with the OLD radios. The newer audio gear more sophisticated with protection built in. Ergo, if you have even a 20-30 yr old panel, won’t notice it’s absence.