Surprisingly, someone was interested enough to find actual evidence. http://www.nonlintec.com/sprite/cap_failure/
Good find, Roto: the big difference between "condensors" and "capacitors" is specifically this: "condensors" are devices intended to capture, store, and very quickly dissipate energy, while "capacitors" are devices intended to store energy for re-use, or to pass the effects of electrons moving across two plates while not passing their potential through the barrier. While this might seem an odd distinction, these components are very different until the TYPE of insulation material changes. Condensors are intended to suffer through certain amounts of damage and continue to operate, even if in a reduced capacity, while capacitors die the first time a hole gets punched through them, often with a bang, heat, and/or melted parts. If you take a certain type of plastic (known as mylar) and bind it to a (very) thin sheet of aluminum, you then get a CAPACITOR with CONDENSOR-like reactive (i.e., very low resistance) characteristics. This latter one makes for good spike-capture-and-release devices like condensors, but in more waterproof and longer shelf-life (unused) versions. They also work very well in electronic ignitions...
