Trying to use an old Craftsman timing light and it will only flash once and then nothing. Took the capacitor to a local electronics store and their opinion was that is was bad. Unfortunately, Sears/Craftsman does not have a schematic for the device nor the component spec and it is NOT labeled in any manner. Any thoughts on size/spec of the capacitor?

 

There are a whole lot of parts in that timing light because it has an inverter high voltage supply and a magnetic pickup trigger circuit as well.
Why do you suspect the capacitor??

 

Nothing looked fried and I took the cap to a local electronic store as my old multi-meter did not have a capacitor measuring capability. They pronounced suspect/bad.

 

OK, my first test would be to measure the flash voltage as the light was powered up. That would be the voltage across that big capacitor. My guess as to the ratings would be 0.1 MFD and probably 400 volts. But it could be 0.047MFD and 400 volts just as well, since that is a very small flash tube.

 

This is a very basic timing light i use. The capacitor is usually around 600v for the xenon flash tube.

 

The photo is of an entirely different timing light. The much higher capacitance will produce a longer and brighter flash, and reduce the life of the flash tube. A higher voltage capacitor would certainly be reasonable, though.

 

Welcome to AAC.

Exactly what testing was done to determine the cap was bad?

 

The photo in post #5 shows an entirely different timing light, and the meter reading has no comment about the 6.53 is. Volts, Kilohms, ohms, or????
In addition, the reading across a capacitor connected to an unknown circuit may not at all provide any useful information.

 

The reading is 653V DC with out the flash being triggered. Theres very little in any of these timing lights. Just a 12V DC to about 600V inverter & a trigger pick up & circuit for the Xenon tube. First thing he needs to check is there HV on the capacitor.

 

capacitor value should be 2-4uF, and of course must be rated above what inverter will produce. the picture also shows that meter is in less than prime condition, as well as have low battery. so any reading would be suspect until it gets new battery and it is checked against some other meter.