HELP!! i apparently suck at wiring.

[B man]

ok so me and my friend are trying to hook up out side cab lights to his truck. his truck is an old CSX rail road truck. it had a light on its roof before and i thought. why not use those wires to hook into. and i have confirmed with another simple test light they still work. ok iths kinda hard to explain the setup so heres what it looks like. this should work right?

 

[B man]

the blue boxs are splices.

 

[B man]

whats happenig is that when i ground the switch the switch lights up on the on position,but when i grounded the lights the switch stays light up on or off. and both ways the lights still won't work!

 

[B man]

anyone? i may have to leave from his house soon.

 

[devino246]

Are you sure you have the switch hook up correctly? Your making this way harder than it has to be.

 

[B man]

yes i do. hot wir to hot wire and ground to ground. then the lead wire out.

 

[devino246]

Are you sure you have a good ground on the bolts? Are these lights incandescent or LED?

 

[B man]

i hooked the ground into the old ground from the trucks previous lights. i did test it and the grounds good.

 

[devino246]

What type of bulbs???

 

[B man]

well i dont think it matters but incandescent .

 

[devino246]

well i dont think it matters but incandescent .

Then it doesnt. If they were LEDs the polarity would matter.

 

[newrider3]

You should have a SPST (two prong) switch, not a three prong one. You don't need a ground going to the switch, it is just there to complete the hot side of the circuit.

 

[B man]

well the guy at NAPA thought it was just so the switch would light up.but i undone it and the switch still light up. so idk im kinda stuck

 

[B man]

hehe well i learned what not to do....don't bypass switch. although after takeing the switch out of the equation the lights worked. does that mean bad switch?

 

[Doc Sprocket]

It means you had it wired wrong, OR it was bad. Post the switch details including terminal markings. Switch can be verified with test light or meter.

 

[anderkart]

It sounds like you just had an Illuminated type switch that was mis-wired:

 

[B man]

my setup is exactly like that. but it still won't work.

 

[anderkart]

How are the switches 3 terminals labeled, what do they say? Sometimes the labeling is kinda confusing.

 

[B man]

i know i have the right wire where there supposed to be. i got it wrong the first time and it blew that fuse.

 

[Doc Sprocket]

It can be wired wrong multiple ways- what markings or symbols are on the switch next to the terminals?

EDIT- I just did a quick count- 3 terminals means it can be wired WRONG five different ways!