Illuminated Switch Question.

[Arnak]

Hi,

I have a strange thing happening with an illuminated switch.
It is a SPST switch with an inbuilt LED for illumination when the switch is on.

It has 3 terminal, gnd, led/power out and power in, it works at 12v.

I am using it to switch onn/off a 5v supply as it is the only switch I have spare.

Now I appreciate that the led will not illuminate at 5v, so I added a led to work on 5v from the output through a 150 ohm resistor to ground, this works fine when the switch is on, showing that the switch is in the on position.

However when the switch is in the off position the led is slightly lit, showing that a reverse voltage is flowing through the switch!

How is this possible please, or is the switch faulty.

Thanks for any advice.

Martin

 

[Bluejets]

show a diagram of your circuit.

 

[Audioguru]

An LED is a diode then a reverse voltage will not cause it to light.
Why do you think there is a reverse voltage?
Which LED is slightly lit? The one in the switch or the one you added somewhere?
Can you calculate a new resistor for your 5V supply and replace the existing resistor?
Here is the schematic:

 

[Arnak]

Hi,

Thanks very much for the replies.)

I have solved the problem, it was me being an idiot....

I had incorrectly wired the supply 5v to the groumnd pin of the switch!!!!!

Can I use the excuse that it was a senoir moment please?

Martin

 

[Kiwi]

"Senior moments" are allowed. I have a few myself as I get older.