Posted by fixerupper on May 22, 2009 at 17:44:33 from (66.43.238.99):
Here's one for you electrical experts. On a trailer I have built I have installed a lighted rocker switch to light up the tail lights from a battery mounted on the trailer. This trailer will be pulled primarily with a tractor but it sometimes will be behind a pickup, so I thought it might be a good idea to be able to light up the tail lights if it's pulled by a tractor if he gets caught up in the dark before he gets home. The battery supplies power to some other things on the trailer too.
On the tongue I have a cord with a regular RV plug to plug into the pickup when needed and it powers the brake/tail lights.
The rocker switch on the trailer has three terminals - in/out/ground. The ground is for the light in the switch. When I plug the RV plug into the pickup and turn on the lights it nturally backfeeds to the rocker switch, but it pops the fuse because the rocker switch grounds it out somehow, even though the switch is turned off. If I unplug the ground wire from the switch the fuse in the pickup does not blow. Are we confused yet? The switch is wired right, I've checked it multiple times. A check with the OHM meter shows resistance between the ground terminal and the 'power out' terminal when the switch is turned off, but the circuit between ground and out is open when the switch is on.
So now after reading this long confusing post, does anyone out there know anything about how these lighted rocker switches work internally? Why does this switch turn the power out terminal into a grounded termional when turned off?
Looks like I'm gonna have to isolate the switch with either a diode or relay. Jim
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