Ok guys, I have no idea how all this stuff works. First of all, I have 8 switches that I bought from a company in Canada three years ago....Dont remember who, but it took me a long time to find them. They're chrome toggles with blue LEDs built into the end. Heres the problem

I just now found things to hook them to. I have one hooked up to my backup lights, and have been running it without the ground for the switch hooked up since all my expertise has been in just using two-prong switches, not three. So yesterday, I hooked up the grounds on them, because I wanted the LEDs to start working. I hooked them all up, flipped the switch, and it worked!!! For about 15 seconds......then it died......and hasnt worked since.....

The switch still works, sending the signal to the relays, then turning on the lights, but the LEDs dont. Did this on two other switches and the same thing happened......What gives? What did I do to screw 'em up? They are 12V switches, and can handle up to 20 amps, but I'm only pushing about 5 through them. Did the resistors for the LEDs burn out? I'm at a loss, and finding these again is going to suck, so any help is appreciated.

 

If you have a multimeter I would just check the resistors individually, and then check the LED's using the diode check. Most DMM's have those. If something works for 15 seconds and then dies, that sounds like something burnt out. Sounds like you may have grounded something that shouldn't have been and the full 12V went across something that shouldn't have.

 

well I have power going to one of them, since its the only one being used.....since there are 8 of them (this might be where I f#(@*$#* up) I am running all the grounds into a common wire (splicing them all into one bigger wire), then sending it to a ground.

 

Have an electronics tech check the LED's. There may not even be a resistor in the LED circuit.

 

there is, I took one of the switches apart, and the resistor is in between the accessory post and the LED

 

What are the color bands on the resistor? If I am figuring correctly, it should be in the neighborhood of 600 ohms.

 

I dont remember, and I lost the dang thing, but if I remember right, there was a black and a red one

 

There should be 4 color bands. 3 for the value and one for the percent accuracy, which is usually silver or gold.