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Helm switch wiring with diodes

I bench tested the switches

in position 1 (off) the white light is on
in position 2 (on) the red light is on

Light is powered from terminals 1 and 4.

Makes no difference if anything is connected to terminal 2 (battery (+), or terminal 3 (load)

tip rip lights are Led by the way
 
kimcrwbr1 said:
Looking at the switch diagram my guess is the light is just on and off depending on the input. Thinking the different colors is just the lens color is different depending on switch position kinna like fiber optic the just travels thru the toggle? Try just wiring the toggle lights directly to its own fuse in the fuse block that way they illuminat when th master power is on.
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Thats how I did it the first time...how it is right now

lights only go go off when I shut off the battery
 
I think the diode idea is just as simple as any other jumper solution.

can anyone please suggest what diode to use?

this can’t be that hard... factories use diodes like this don’t they? I’ve seen threads with pictures in some forums with other setups with diodes on them.

someone must have seen this before
 
If i got this correct what you want to do cannot be done. You cannot have all the lights on at night and also switch each light individually. Just connect the load to the light on each switch individually. Then put a dash light that shines on the switch panel.
 
Ok i figured it out you could use two diodes per switch but you cannot daisy chan the lights. You woul need to wire all the lights from a common bus bar and put a blocking diode keeping hot from going back to the bar. Thats the night light circuit all lights will be lit. Then put a blocking diode between load and the light on the switch. Any low amp diode will work
 
kimcrwbr1 said:
Ok i figured it out you could use two diodes per switch but you cannot daisy chan the lights. You woul need to wire all the lights from a common bus bar and put a blocking diode keeping hot from going back to the bar. Thats the night light circuit all lights will be lit. Then put a blocking diode between load and the light on the switch. Any low amp diode will work
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Crap you are right. It would require two diodes per switch. Hmm. That’s starting to get too messy and convoluted to deal with all those terminal connectors. Just too many potential points of failure. Hate to say it but I think I’ll take the earlier advice and keep it simple. I’m giving up on the white running light off position light idea. Im going to just change the existing jumper wire from battery (+) terminal over to the switches load terminal. With that configuration the switches will functions the same as from the factory. Red on when activated only.

thank you everyone for all the help in sorting this out. You guys are a great wealth of knowledge
 
I like the idea of wiring the nav/anchor light light to the main switch as an indicator the power is on then daisy chain the other switch lights from the navigation lite switch.
 
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