Brutus style brew rig controls wiring issue

[I-Hop]

Hello.
I’m building a Brutus style brew rig. I’m using 2 Auber SYL-2362 PIDs to control 2 Honeywell gas valves. I have power to the main switch of the control panel, which then goes to an indicator light, then feeds a bus bar to power everything else. When I flip the main switch, just the indicator light lights up. If I bypass the indicator, I get the PIDs to power up. I didn’t think the indicator light would draw too much power to be a problem. Am I doing something wrong? I’m no electrician, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[I-Hop]

Here is a pic of my controller. I’ve also attached a pic of the wiring diagram I have been following which I got from brewgeeks.com. The only difference with my wiring is, I added the indicators after the switches as a reminder of which switch is activated.

 

[lschiavo]

It looks like your indicator light is wired in series with the main buss. This will cause some voltage to drop across the light and a lower voltage to appear at the buss. Apparently low enough to affect the other components.

Actually you don't show the indicator light on the diagram. But that's still my guess.

 

[I-Hop]

You are right. The diagram doesn’t show the indicator, since it was my addition. It is inline between the main switch, and the bus bar. I guess it is in series. Would there be another way to wire it? Like I said, I’m not an electrician, I thought this would work. Thanks for the reply.

 

[lschiavo]

Sure. If the indicator lamp is 120V, just connect it between the secondary side of the switch (which is the hot buss) and the neutral buss. That should fix it.

 

[I-Hop]

I will try that, thanks. Excuse my ignorance, but on the secondary side of the switch, would I have 2 wires (one to the hot side of the bus bar, one to the indicator)? And then, the secondary side of the indicator would go to the neutral bus bar to wire it in series?

 

[lschiavo]

Yes. The way you describe it will work. The indicator lamp can be tied across your hot and neutral buses it that makes connecting it simpler. The secondary side of the switch is the same point electrically as the hot buss. Wiring it this way actually will put the indicator in parallel with your other components. They all will have a common hot and common neutral connection.

 

[I-Hop]

Thanks. I wired it in parallel and it worked!