hey all have got a single pole single throw lighted rocker switch, the rating on the side of the switch is 6.5A-250v, and, 13A-125v. its got three terminals at the bottom, with 2 on top of each other and the third next to one of them. | | | ^kinda like that. if i connect the two that are above each other, then the continuity tester on my multimeter bleeps, when the switch is one way, when switched to the other side, the bleep stops, so i know that these 2 terminals are what i can use if i wanna use it as a simple switch,but i wanna be able to use the led inside it aswell, so how would i wire it? also would i need some sort of resistor if i was going to be hooking it up to a computer powersupply? thanx
Based on what you said about what the terminals are rated for, I believe that the lighting element in your switch is actually a small neon bulb. If that's the case, then DC won't work, as it needs AC to light up. The switch will work fine in a computer, but if you want to use the light, you'd need to switch an AC source, as the bulb is in parallel with what you're switching. The switch terminals, one of which connects to the bulb, carry AC, while the third terminal is connected to the neon as well.
if you are handy, and the switches arn't permanently sealed, you could probably open them and replace the neon glim-lamp with a LED and resistor for your application voltage.
And to light it you need to connect that third terminal to neutral, so the neon lights. Code: / L------o o-+-------Load | Neon & Resistor | N You can wire them the other way round if wanted, lit up when off, so you can find the switch in the dark. But as said, it needs over 90V to strike the neon, so mains only or mod.
once again, thanx guys. im just adapting the transistor fan controller of cpemmas actually! so that i can switch them off, without haveing to guess by using the wire link instead, which can turn them off. thing is that most of my fans cut out after 3v, so if the minimum is around 4v, thats good! and i can still turn them off! how would i wire an led into the circuit to give me a power indication? thank you all!
