I was wondering if anyone knows how to wire an illuminated switch withe the oznium cold cathodes. I dont know if i have to ground the switch or something. But one I have has 3 prongs. I want to order these from ebay:




for my blue cathodes. one for dash, another for rear and another switch for all the cathodes.

right now ive wired the under dash via back of cig and plan on wiring the rear and also the above door handles.

if anyone can help. Its much appreciated.

 

uhh.... there should be indications on the switch itself to how to wire it up..

one prong is for where power goes into.... another is for ground.. and the other is for the actual accessory you're powering.

 

thats what i did with one switch, but the switch didnt power up. I dont know. But I know some switches are ranked for usage up to like 20amps, etc. What does that mean?

 

it's just how much current it can handle (current measured in amps)

laymen's terms... you hooky up too many things to switch or give it lotsa lotsa power.. switch no likey.. maybe kaboom.

 

soo.....then......
the switch cant illuminate because its too much power or less power?

 

hmm? ehh... i'm not sure exactly what the switch's problem is.. but it shouldn't be related to that.

 

i had used another switch that was illuminatied. and only used the power and acc prongs. the switch illuminated and the cathodes lighted up for about 2 ins of the tube. So im guessing the switch is drainging the power. so not enough power was there for the cathode. so if i ground that switch would it just zap all the juice from the cathode to where there is no glow? I dont know.

im gonna order this 3 switch panel and see if i can figure it out. it can handle up to 15amps continu and 20 amps max. So hopefully I can use these for my cold cathode set up. But maybe the back of the cig lighter isnt enough power? That cant be it, so then its a switch problem? im going around in circles..........

but anyways. im gonna set up a switch panel customed to turn on my front and rear with one switch, my handle lights on another switch and lastly save the 3rd for future grill hood lights. and also figure how to cut aluminum to fit in those pesky side mirror controls.

this is my diagram of my custom panel once i recieve the switches and how its gonna be wired up, tell me if you think its too much power draw from the current to be able to power up the cathodes.

Diagram:

 

Make sure your grounding the wire well

 

which wire? you mean the switches thats on the panel? I plan on grounding all the switches to the same ground point. But There is also a 3amp fuse between the power source (cig lighter harness) and the wire that goes to the Main arming switch that powers on all the cathode switches. I hope it all works cause the switches above from ebay are 30$ for all 3 with that panel. Its cheaper than getting 3 seprate switches. and the panel i will have to replace with a custom one i will have to try to make to fit it all and the side mirror switch. If i cant figure how to put lines into alumminum then i will have to mold it as fiberglass.