Do you know how to connect a 3 wire rocker switch to a 12 volt led light? Well in this short video I'll show you just how easy it is! #12volts #rockerswitch
There’s no bare ground wire on automotive switches or lights or anything else. And it’s not a negative. You can run an automotive ground to the negative terminal, but you can also run it to bare metal to ground it. Why would You run a wire all the way to the battery from lights at the back of the vehicle when you can run it to a chassis ground way back there by the lights..,?
Depending on what the switch is for. If the accessories draw more than 10 amp consider using the switch to charge a relay and run the full load through the contact that is rated for what you’re trying to power Most switches only carry a rating of 15amp
+1 for the relay. Why risk having a hot wire going all through the cab. With the JL's having the aux switches prewired and things like Spods or other devices, why go this route.
Great advice! As to why... the higher the amperage, or the closer to the 15 amp current limit of a 15 amp switch, it is switching directly, the shorter the life of the switch contacts will be. Switching just a relay, the plastic of the switch body will probably fail before the electrical contacts inside do.
Great simple video. I always follow the old rule to make a diagram of everything to the basic level so you know whats going where, and how as well. Relay combination fuse boxes are great if youre planning on multiple accessories/sets of lights instead of individual relays and fuses. Keeps it much simpler and cleaner.
I can’t believe you just taught me something I already know but the way you explained it was so beautiful it’s like learned it for the first time like ooooh 😯that make sense 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Also, the fuse is not for the accessory. It’s for the wire. Rate the fuse for the wire, and rate the wire for the accessory. This will prevent some unexpected glowing wires!
I’m doing this today! lol I bought an old cop car and it has lights in it that are not wired to a switch. I have the switches and now I know how to hook it up thanks!
Small correction. Fuses typically protect your wires, not your devices. The fuse is only there to make sure your wire doesn't turn itself into a resistive heater.
I would argue that fuses are used to protect either the wires or the device depending on which is the bottleneck. Or maybe double fused, one to protect the wire and one to protect the device if the wires are oversized for the device you're running.
@@davidjolly5218 your wire is never the bottleneck unless you're actively trying to burn your car or house to the ground 😅. 10amp bulb with a 5 amp rated wire = 🔥. The wire and fuse don't determine the amps to the device, the device determines the amps running through the wire and fuse.
Right, you couldn't run a 10A device with a wire rated at 5A. I'm saying that if you oversized your wires, let's say a wire that can safely provide 10A paired with a device that will only use 5A, then a fire could break out within the device if there's a short in it if you fused it with a 10A fuse. Right?
If the switch doesn't come with wires already on it then look at the color of the terminals on the switch. The gold terminal is for the ground, and the two silver terminals are for the powered wires.
Butt connectors are not the best way to go. If not using solder + heat shrink tubing, then it would be best to use automotive crimp caps (NOT wire nuts like for wiring a building) + zip ties to prevent the wires from pulling out if ever stressed. Source: full time custom automotive technician for years before the pandemic.
Those butt connectors have solder in them. I started using them a few months ago and they’re fantastic. Strip and insert the wires all the way to the solder plug, then hit it with a flame or better yet a rework heater. The solder melts and the tubing shrinks, so the connection is strong and watertight with a built in strain relief.
I was going to add though that there is an ultimate best way to do something like a professional does it but what do we think about an amateur doing something? would you trust an amateur to get a perfectly penetrated solder joint or would you think it would be easier for them to get a solid connection out of a crimp splice? Besides commercial DC installations use crimp connections and never solder.
@@brizzle8797 yes those buttconnectors that have solder built into them in the middle are literally made for ametuers. All you have to do is make sure both the wires meet in the middle and then have your heat source melt the solder and your good to go it's pretty much fail safe
@@2AToday I just got a huge assortment of them on Amazon for like 25 bucks. I have sizes from like 4 gauge to 26 gauge and they are amazing I use them all the time with zero failures
Hello there, Iam having a halogen head light of 12v 55w h3 which I want to contact directly to the battery, how much fuse and gauge of the wire Iam suppose to use, thanks ❤❤❤❤❤
I've got a question I have a two-wire rocker switch for my boat with two rocker switches they're all pigtail together how do I hook that up I'm confused
Problems with this video 1 don't use pig tails on your switches the more breaks you put in the line the more resistance you build up along the way ( resistance creates heat) 2 use connectors that are the right size for your wire these are to big as you can see by the shrink not shrinking all the way down onto the wire 3 always build your systems to with stand 20% more amps than it will actually draw and 4 for the love of God if your using rocker switches of any kind please use them to activate a relay that then powers your aux equipment rather than relying on the switch to carry the load ( most common failure point that starts fires is a worn switch that used to carry say 10 amps and is now only partially making contact meaning its amp rating has gone down plus its is now creating much more resistance than it was which creates heat and starts fires)
@@wilurbean Yes those larger items will definitely require a relay. I guess maybe what you meant is that he could have mentioned that if you planned to use a relay then the yellow wire would be the one that powers the coil of your relay. But for his video it was just an LED light and the purpose of the video was how to wire a switch not all the things that you can connect to a switch so yes there could have been more but really the video was quite accurate you know. Also once you start getting into explaining all of the things that are downstream of the switch you have to mention to use the appropriate gauge of wire and all of this other stuff that would likely be a different video I would think.
I dont run loads through a switch. Instead use the switch to turn a relay on and off, let the relay carry the load. However that switch could power that one led, i would switch ground instead of power with it
Why the hell are you using 10-12ga butt connectors for what looks likely 16ga wire. I mean you dont make it actually seem like you know what you are doing properly if you cant even use correct crimp terminals...
Should have used green for ground. Blk red hot in out green always ground it saves mistakes from happening later. If your going to show it do it right. Colors that get mixed up can cause fires later. Be safe bro.
This is DC. Black wire is the standard for negative. It’s commonly called ground, but isn’t earth ground used in AC and can use a green or bare wire. Don’t use green (or green yellow) wire unless it’s earth grounded. Some DC systems use positive as common and some use negative as common.
Some "good" wire connectors. Haha, prolly 2 cents a pop and using yellow crimp connectors which don't seal enough. But it's a rookie way of doing it, so I'll let it pass🤦♂️🤦♂️
This really doesn't give you any important information. Very few switches come with colored pigtails. You have to look at the markings on the back of the switch.
This is my opinion but I think he used them just so that he could easily illustrate which wire was doing which because if he put spade connectors on the wires to the LED all of the terminals on the switch would look exactly the same unless you read the tiny little print on the switch so it was probably a lot easier to illustrate the process using those colored wires.
Or think of yellow as the load wire. The red and black are powering the switch light. The switch will pass power from red to the yellow load wire when on.
