Friday, June 3, 2016

Wiring 3-pole Accessory Toggle Switch to 12 volt Battery

I am trying to install some rocker switches in my fishing boat to turn on nav lights and other accessories. I bought some led rocker switches (3-pole) from amazon and tried to install one to my fish-finder for starters. To ensure I installed the switch correctly, I watched a couple of YouTube videos similar to this one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ndOlIgn1ys).



As soon as I turned on the switch, it appeared to overload my battery (the battery was buzzing, and made a sound as if a fuse or breaker tripped). The battery was drained of some voltage pretty quickly. I was able to charge the battery back up.



These switches seem super simple to wire! What could I be missing???



To summarize:

1. I connected the switches middle pole directly to the positive terminal of the battery

2. I connected the switches accessory pole to the positive lead of my fish finder (through an in-line fuse)

3. I connected the switches ground pole to the negative terminal of the battery

4. I connected the negative lead of my fish finder to the negative terminal of the battery



Most of the videos I watched did exactly as I described above. Could I have a bad battery? I am able to wire the fish finder directly to the battery without any issues. Introducing the switch causes the overloading symptoms.



Any advice?

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