Let me start by saying while this is my first post, I have been using this forum for months and have found it priceless in my Brutus 10 build (snapshot below shows current state of build). The members here obviously represent a wealth of knowledge, and I thank you in advance for any insight you can provide in route to solving my newbie electrical question. My apologies if an issue like this has come up in the forum before; I searched for quite a while without finding a solution.
Here's the issue: Trouble wiring an illuminated rocker switch. I picked up a couple of these switches for turning the pumps on and off. They are 20A 125VAC SPST with 4 prongs (specifications can be found here, NTE Type No. 54-234W); image below includes labels of each prong (2, 3, 4, 6). My hope was to have the light turn on when the switch is in the on position.
Initially, I bypassed the illuminator light by connecting prong 2 to hot & prong 3 to the outlet for the pump; in this configuration, the switch is capable of turning power to the outlet (pump) on and off. Using a voltmeter, I have confirmed the switch sends 120V to the electrical outlet when switched on. However, when I attempt to tie in the light, things get weird. So here's what I tried: hot to prong 2, jumper to bridge prongs 3 to 4, then prong 6 connected to electrical outlet for pump. In this configuration, the light turns on when the switch is on, but the pump does not turn on. With the voltmeter I find the switch still provides power to the outlet, but there's a voltage drop to 63V (compared to the first configuration which showed the expected 120V). It's like the light is drawing so much power, the pump later in the circuit can't operate. I've switched the polarities of the prongs and it doesn't seem to matter (which makes sense given its not an LED light). What am I doing wrong?
So I feel really stupid at this point, like I'm missing something obvious, but can't find it. Funny that I've managed to wire the PIDs & RTDs, but its the simple rocker switch that causes me problems. Thanks again for any help you might be able to provide.
Here's the issue: Trouble wiring an illuminated rocker switch. I picked up a couple of these switches for turning the pumps on and off. They are 20A 125VAC SPST with 4 prongs (specifications can be found here, NTE Type No. 54-234W); image below includes labels of each prong (2, 3, 4, 6). My hope was to have the light turn on when the switch is in the on position.
Initially, I bypassed the illuminator light by connecting prong 2 to hot & prong 3 to the outlet for the pump; in this configuration, the switch is capable of turning power to the outlet (pump) on and off. Using a voltmeter, I have confirmed the switch sends 120V to the electrical outlet when switched on. However, when I attempt to tie in the light, things get weird. So here's what I tried: hot to prong 2, jumper to bridge prongs 3 to 4, then prong 6 connected to electrical outlet for pump. In this configuration, the light turns on when the switch is on, but the pump does not turn on. With the voltmeter I find the switch still provides power to the outlet, but there's a voltage drop to 63V (compared to the first configuration which showed the expected 120V). It's like the light is drawing so much power, the pump later in the circuit can't operate. I've switched the polarities of the prongs and it doesn't seem to matter (which makes sense given its not an LED light). What am I doing wrong?
So I feel really stupid at this point, like I'm missing something obvious, but can't find it. Funny that I've managed to wire the PIDs & RTDs, but its the simple rocker switch that causes me problems. Thanks again for any help you might be able to provide.
