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Thread: Anyone know how to wire a 3-prong AC lighted switch?

  1. #1
    ATX Mental Case
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    Default Anyone know how to wire a 3-prong AC lighted switch?

    So my dad has this old cappicino machine that finally had it's switch break. Anyway, he asked me to fix it, so I went and bought a 3 prong lighted switch. The idea is that when I turn the machine on, the switch also turns on.

    Anyway, I'm having a lot of trouble getting it working. It seems that all I can do is have the switch work without the light, or have it work in the opposite way I want it to (when I turn the machine on, the light goes off... and when I turn it off the light turns on... wtf?!).

    Anyway, here is all the information on how the switch works:

    http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1266193067

    Could anyone perhaps give me some insight on how to wire this thing properly? The only wires I have coming from the machine are a positive and negative AC terminal (or rather two AC terminals, since they switch polarities :p).

    Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Fox Furry crenn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone know how to wire a 3-prong AC lighted switch?

    Connect wall active to pin A, connect active of the machine to pin B, and connect neutral wall and machine to pin N.
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  3. #3
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    Default Re: Anyone know how to wire a 3-prong AC lighted switch?

    Quote Originally Posted by crenn View Post
    Connect wall active to pin A, connect active of the machine to pin B, and connect neutral wall and machine to pin N.
    For some reason when I connect it like that, the light in the switch turns on when the machine is off, and turns off when the machine is on...

    I'm starting to think that maybe the switch is designed to work like that.... does it seem like anything on the switch indicates that? Seems kinda dumb to me :/

  4. #4
    Spam Sniper SgtM's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone know how to wire a 3-prong AC lighted switch?

    Switch the leads.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Anyone know how to wire a 3-prong AC lighted switch?

    I switched the A and B like you said, but now the light won't come on at all .

    Any other ideas? Thanks.

  6. #6
    ATX Mental Case Killa_Ape's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone know how to wire a 3-prong AC lighted switch?

    If you have a meter I'd check to see that you are getting a resistance over the B and N terminals to make sure the light is still good. If your hot wire is connected to B the light will always be on, switch open it flows through the light to the N, and if the switch is closed, the light will now be in parallel with the rest of the machine. So putting the hot on A should give you what you want, no light when it's off and the light on when the switch is closed. This is all of course assuming their drawing on the switch is correct.

  7. #7
    Fox Furry crenn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone know how to wire a 3-prong AC lighted switch?

    Can you please show us your wiring?
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  8. #8
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    Default Re: Anyone know how to wire a 3-prong AC lighted switch?

    Okay, here's how the circuit basically is:



    Is there something wrong I'm doing there? The ground is connected to the ground on the machine's base .

  9. #9
    Will YOU be ready when the zombies rise? x88x's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone know how to wire a 3-prong AC lighted switch?

    I think crenn has it right; the switch is probably designed to turn the light on when the switch is in the 'off' position with the idea that it makes the switch easier to find, but it figures that once you have the switch turned on, you don't need the light. (I'm assuming that the light in question is the light in the switch?)
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  10. #10
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    Default Re: Anyone know how to wire a 3-prong AC lighted switch?

    Quote Originally Posted by x88x View Post
    (I'm assuming that the light in question is the light in the switch?)
    Yes, that's correct. I dunno, the whole idea of having it on when the machine is not running seems a little counter intuitive. It's like having a smoke alarm that continues beeping until it detects smoke :p.

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