Product Review: Lucas Type 2MC Capacitor 54170009
Hello again C.B.S. readers. Today I am very excited to release this full product review on the new Lucas type 2MC capacitors produced by JRC Engineering. We have been waiting many months for these capacitors to be manufactured. Now they are ready to hit the market- again. Alright lets get right to it.
What is a Lucas 2MC capacitor?
The Lucas 2MC capacitor was developed in the late 1960s to replace models that featured the energy transfer (E.T.) ignition. Using a Lucas capacitor allows a standard ignition motorcycle to run battery less. The whole purpose of fitting a Lucas capacitor originally was for emergency purposes only. Example - If you left your lights on on your motorcycle and your battery goes flat, the Lucas capacitor will allow you to start your motorcycle and ride it to a close destination. Once the bike is running lights are fully functional - just like E.T. systems. Many folks today install the Lucas capacitor on British motorcycles, European motorcycles and Japanese motorcycles just so one can ride the bike without a battery.
Ready to hit the market - again?
Mounting spring included with all capacitors
Back in the day when Lucas made parts (not today's Lucas) they offered capacitors as standard equipment on some models and offered them as replacements. Finding an original Lucas capacitor today is very difficult. Most original capacitors have expired. In the mid 2000's a company named Sparx decided to reproduce the Lucas 2MC capacitor. They did an excellent job at reproducing the capacitor but there where some flaws such as backwards terminals. Most Sparx capacitors are now off the market.
Review
1 positive terminal - 2 negative terminals
What's great about these new Lucas type capacitors is that they are an exact reproduction of the original Lucas 2MC capacitors. They happen to feature the correct blue color and the correct mounting spring for most Triumph and BSA models. Each capacitor comes with its own box designed by JRC Engineering. Features one positive spaid terminal and two negative spade terminals.
Storage life
Storage life according to Triumph is close to a year.
According to triumph themselves a workshop manual states that Lucas capacitors have a storage life of approximately 9 months to a year depending on temperatures. I have personally tested original, used, and new old stock Lucas capacitors and have found some that still work close to 50 years later.
Applications
The Lucas 2MC capacitor well technically fit any British motorcycle that has standard points ignition. Example if you choose to install this capacitor on a BSA Lightning you can do so even though it was not fitted as standard. The spring supplied is used to mount the capacitor (we recommend installing the capacitor in a vertical position away from heat). I personally installed a Lucas capacitor on my 1968 triumph TR6R with excellent results.
Conclusion
All in all I am very excited and proud to stock these new Lucas type capacitors on my shelves and to offer them to my customers. I would like to give a big shout out to everyone at JRC Engineering for developing, producing and investing in a wonderful product that at one point was hard to obtain. As always thank you everybody for reading today's post. If you have any questions or have some input please feel free to leave a comment below. Click here to purchase the Lucas type 2MC capacitor.
Classic British Spares
@PAul It would work but we do not recommend it.
PAul
So… are you saying these capacitors will not work with electronic ignition upgrades?
Daniel Moisan
Hello,
What are this capacitor’s specs, uf, V? I bought a 1200uf cap and it failed. The Original cap on the Triumph TR25W 1969 was a 1000uf. Voltage in this case doesn’t matter.The TR25W doesn’t work with a ET it is running a standard 12V system using the capacitor for batteryless running.
I would just like to know the uf on the 2MC?
Thanks!
Daniel