lighter switch?

[strutman]

anyone know how to make a switch that turns your lighter on and off

i found the two wires, one is pink and one is black, i assume positive and black is negative.

i moved the lighter behind the cd player and stuff so nobody can see it and I have the leds that light my gauge pod plugged in there and turned on... i want to make a switch using the actual lighter plugs, so i can cut power on and off to that and mount it in my dash. it'll look better that way, and this is easier then messing with the wires to the actual led lights themselves.

I plan to buy one of those toggle switches and put it in the dash for it. so... how does that work? lol

[firelizard]

Put the switch anywhere in the circuit and it will work.
And yes, black is always a ground.

[strutman]

actually i looked at my connections, black is not ground on the lighters, to the best of my knowledge... i used the black as power, when you pull the connector off the black leads to a metal piece that says 12V stamped on the metal. i used the black wire for power on the switch and it worked. lol I could be wrong, but i think black is power on the lighters, as odd as it sounds, unless i screwed something up.

[JZProwler]

Black is not always ground. If black is used, that usually would be the color. I have seen gorunds on factory wiring being brown, blue, even orange.

And you dont have power to the switch strutman. You put the switch in line with the circuit anywhere, and you press the switch, it puts an open in the circuit, disabling whatever you have switched

[strutman]

yes, therefore the power cable is the black one. lol the one that you put the switch on to open or close the circuit... the power wire... what else do you want me to call it? lol

[JZProwler]

I think I may be speechless. Sorry, but it seems like your not on the same level as any of us here strutman. I don't know how else to try to explain it for you.
Just because the switch is there doesn't mean its the 'power' wire.

[strutman]

it's semantics prowler, i know the switch does not run on power, but the ****ing power wire... the positive cable if you will, is what you hook the switch to in order to allow open/close of the ****ing circuit...it's a simple concept. i thought it was odd that it was black, that's all. get off your high horse.

[JZProwler]

Whats with your attitude? I'm not on a high horse, I'm just trying to help and teach you something. You need to take a chill pill and back off of everyone. And how am I supposed to know what you know by the posts you make?

[strutman]

well everyone else gets pissed off at me...nobody really likes me here, so i figured you were the same way...most everyone is.

[loganss]

well everyone else gets pissed off at me...nobody really likes me here, so i figured you were the same way...most everyone is.

Don't take it so hard. You just do things to your car that are different then most of us would ... i guess. Then when you get advice you don't really follow it. And you make multiple vague posts and expect people to know what you're talking about. To each his own.

Prob not in your best interest to be an ass to the guys that try and help ya out.

[96Familia]

Strutman = Funny

:rofl:

[noxygen]

what they are trying to get at is that it doesnt technically matter if you put the toggle switch on the positive or ground wire .. it will still put a gap or break in the circuit ... therefore just because you have the switch on the black wire doesnt mean it is the positive wire. however it is better to have the switch on the positive wire, because if were on the ground and somehow a wire was to become worn and touch part of the metal body it would cause the circuit to be closed again( or a "live" circuit)
where as it is much less likely for 2 positive wires to come in contact

[strutman]

thank you noxygen! now i understand!

[midnightblue97]

Just wondering why you want to have the lighter switched??

[JZProwler]

what they are trying to get at is that it doesnt technically matter if you put the toggle switch on the positive or ground wire .. it will still put a gap or break in the circuit ... therefore just because you have the switch on the black wire doesnt mean it is the positive wire. however it is better to have the switch on the positive wire, because if were on the ground and somehow a wire was to become worn and touch part of the metal body it would cause the circuit to be closed again( or a "live" circuit)
where as it is much less likely for 2 positive wires to come in contact

Actually, I was getting at that a black wire doesn't automatically mean ground, just usually. AND, (I dont think i was clear on this one) a switch should be put on the ground side of any circuit if possible. If its put on the positive side, there is a load going through it, because whatever you are switching hasn't used it yet, meaning the switch will be arcing when you use it, even minutely, it will cause more wear. On the ground side, the power has been used, now its just completing the circuit, and barely any wear on the switch will occur. Of course for low-load things, it doesn't matter all too much, but who wants to have to replace a stupid little switch