Need help with a simple electrical switch

[hiredgun8]

It appears as though this switch requires 120vac to light up. You need one with a 12vdc lamp.

 

[TXDIRT67]

It appears as though this switch requires 120vac to light up. You need one with a 12vdc lamp.

hiredgun8 got it right, this switch is for household AC current, not DC. If you really have your heart set on using this switch, there is a solution if you like taking stuff apart like I do. I have changed AC lighted switches to DC in the past. You will need to take the switch apart and put a proper size resister for 12VDC. You can usually pop the toggle portion off revealing the inside so you can take out the AC components, usually a resistor, capacitor and a rectifier, after those are removed put in a resistor that will light the LEDs properly. Soldering is involved and a steady hand with a small screwdriver or xacto blade. Let me know if you have anymore questions.

 

[duanes7]

Do you have access to a DMM? 2 poles (1 and 4?) will have continuity when the switch is closed and be open when the switch is open. Use might be able to use these to turn your relay on and off. This switch is designed for AC and as such probably has a little circuit inside to convert that to something that the LEDs can use (probably 2 to 4 off and 1 to 4 on). Probably not going to make the current LEDs work with DC and it might even have long term problems with the incorrect voltage (melting, etc). Might be able to swap the circuit and LEDs with something that is 12v capable but for $4 why not just take it back and get a dc switch?

 

[glendayle]

hiredgun8 got it right, this switch is for household AC current, not DC. If you really have your heart set on using this switch, there is a solution if you like taking stuff apart like I do. I have changed AC lighted switches to DC in the past. You will need to take the switch apart and put a proper size resister for 12VDC. You can usually pop the toggle portion off revealing the inside so you can take out the AC components, usually a resistor, capacitor and a rectifier, after those are removed put in a resistor that will light the LEDs properly. Soldering is involved and a steady hand with a small screwdriver or xacto blade. Let me know if you have anymore questions.

I'm all for taking stuff apart and modifying it. If I can make this switch work, I'd love to. I guess I need to figure which stuff to take out, and what size resistor to put in.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[duanes7]

Ok at a guess...

I'd say the pad and via (through hole) that is between D1 and D2 is the common for the LEDs and the pad/via by R1 is to complete the path with the switch one way and the pad/via by R2 is for the other. The 2 diodes make a simple half wave rectifier so that the circuit only feels the positive cycle of the ac so the single via is probably the common power. I'm surprised there aren't a couple of capacitors in there too. Under the board maybe? The others must be switched grounds. Double check this with your test light to make sure the polarity is correct.

You can probably remove D1, D2, R1, R2 (C1, C2) and the 2 LEDs. Get 2 12v LEDs in the colors you want and wire one end of each to the common via and the other end to one or the other individual vias. If the common via is power this is the end the anode hooks to with the "arrow" of the diode pointing towards ground and the striped end (cathode) hooked to the ground end. As for resistors this will probably be trial and error adding different values until you get the grightness you want.

 

[glendayle]

Thanks guys.
I do like that button, but converting it to DC is going to be too time consuming for me at the moment. Maybe later. Went and got a lighted momentary switch that I like that is for DC. Was trying to hook that up in my lab scenario and it would work either. After messing around for a while and being pissed, I finally figured out that one of my test lead wires was bad and had a short. So I think a lot of the issue was this.

thanks for the help