OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Tech Talk Wipac Magister Condenser Discharge Ignition System

It will not be an electrolytic capacitor Mark. The Magister is a sort of el cheapo Capacitive Discharge Ignition - the capacitor is the hardest working component in the system, and it experiences wild voltage swings and high currents during each spark event. It may or may not actually have reverse voltage applied, but it covers a wide voltage range. Normally the capacitor is an encapsulated plastic type.

Note also that CDI capacitors typically run at 300 Volts, and very small 300 V electrolytic capacitors are not a common component. This is not the reason electrolytics aren't used (they are filtering capacitors, unsuited to complete discharge and recharge 400 times per second, in the case of a CDI on a V8 at 6,000 rpm) but it would be a problem even if this type of capacitor were otherwise suitable.