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doh, that didnt work
-----------_
-----------\ \(off now)
_______\ \_______
|_______________|
|_______________|
|_______________|
-----||------||-------||
-(+)||---(?)||-------||(-)


heh, that took a while.

This light is a glowing red one that should turn on when i want the lights on.
what i can't figure out is how to make the switch glow.
how would i wire it? 1+ 2grounds?
2+ 1 ground? which would go where?
I tried a few combinations.. left the positive where it was and 2 grounds..
the 2nd ground started sparking like mad and melted the wire. except that it didnt if the switch was glowing.
above is currently how i have it set up and the light switch wont glow unless i figure out how the 3rd wire goes and where.
im not even sure the wires i have setup now is correct, but it works. it doesn't specify which is + or - or what ever the 3rd is.
it's a 12vdc switch for sure.

 
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omegablue - it's a 12vdc, should of mentioned that before, thanks

 
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Ok first thing you HAVE to make sure of is that you have a lighted switch for a 12/14 volt dc current. I had that problem before until i looked at the box the switch was in from Radio Shack and realized I bought the one for a 110 volt ac current. The LED insinde the switch is set up to light at certain current draws, and if you have a 110 volt lighted switch, teh 12 volts provided from your car battery will NEVER be enough to light it. If you arent sure what voltage the switch is, easiest thing is to jsut run out and buy some other ones your sure are for a 12 volt dc source for a few bucks.

 
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Ok, the if your Sure that its the right voltage for the LED in teh switch then usually the only other thing i can think is that the ground prong for the light feature is usually copper or brass and the other 2 are silver or nickle. If you run the lead into the lead next to the ground lead, and then run the ground lead to a grounding point, the switch will always be on (thats the way the switches are i have) and if you run the lead into the far prong, the switch will only light when you turn it on. Im assumeing that you know HOW to wire a switch and that your just concered with the actual lighting of the switch, but from how it sounds youve already trid all teh possibilities so my best guess is that the light is a dud inside and just take it back to exchange for another one. It happens all the time.

 
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i can make the light go on in the switch, its just that if i have it set like that and switch it to off, it sparks like hell and the wire melts.
(this setup is 1+ and 2 grounds) could it be that im using a bad ground?

 
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on the switches i got from radio shack, the load was in the center, and that was a +, then one side was a ground and the other side was a constant +

 
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switches should be no big deal but one thing I had as a problem on my jeep was make sure that the ground that you choose for the switch to make it light up is strong enough. sometimes if the ground is not strong or if it is painted it also wont let it lightup. besides that omega sums up all there is to know about switches

 
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i dont think i tried 2 +'s yet... i ran out of wire.