Ok Gurus i need your help. I have a toggle switch with 3 prongs "Supply Volts" "On ACC" "Earth Ground". I know how to ground it. The LED strip has a neg and pos wire. Do i need any other wires, what sizes, and how do i wire it to my cig lighter? Thanks guys

 

Why does the Earth-Ground prong have to be grounded ??

~ Cap

 

It doesnt really need to be grounded but im gonna do it anyway. I figured i would get an inline fuse and run it to the driver side fuse box, run the pos to the ACC and the neg to the ground

 

That doesn't answer my question as to why some switches have that third prong that grounds the ACC source when the switch is in the OFF position.

~ Cap

 

Is the switch lighted? If so, that's why it has a ground. No ground = no complete circuit for the light. It will still function and turn on the LED strip, but won't light up. If you don't want it to light, no need to ground it.

If it's not a lighted switch, it may be a DPST, meaning when it's in the "on" position it passes +12V, and when in the "off" position it passes ground. I doubt that's the case, but it could be.

Give us a bit more info on it.

Big Mack

 

Sorry for the blurry image.

As you can see that this SPST switch is not lighted.

However, when it is in the OFF position the ACC wire (middle) gets grounded.

~ Cap

 

Its a lighted switch. when toggled on it hits Power and ACC, when off it hits ACC and ground. I was playing around with it and just as Big Mack said No ground = no light on the switch. when i grounded it, all was good.

 

Correct, because this is a NC (normally closed) switch. His would be NO (normally open). Your example reminds me of a momentary for an alarm control. So long as it sees ground, it stays off. When it sees power, it comes on.

Either way, he's got a lighted switch and it's working.

Big Mack

 

Big Mack.....

That still doesn't answer my question as to why some switches ground the source when in the OFF position.

I believe I read somewhere, that the ground kills any residue of current from LED lights and also eliminates noise picked up by electronic equiptment.

Thanks anyway, for your effort.

~ Cap

 

I actually missed your question, so sorry about that. It can eliminate noise, that is correct. Also, some switches are designed like this because their "typical" use is for a component that uses capacitors in the power supply. Ground the cap after use, and there is no residual current. If you've ever used some of the big caps in car audio, once they are charged they retain it for quite some time. Can be dangerous if you're working on a charging system. Nice little zap when you're not expecting it!

Big Mack

 

the ground on switch it for the illumination of the switch.if you don't ground it the switch wont light.

 

I every body i have a question on this too
when i try to put a switch for LED , i dont know which i did wrong.
I burn the fuse, and after i replace the fuse, My CD/AC everything works fine but all the bottoms on the console Has No LighTs any more !
Can it be fixed ?

 

where did you draw the power from?

 

Door light ....the red one on the door.

 

Help Help!!!