Wiring in a 3 wire toggle switch?

[Tris]

I’ve just received a pair of spot lights with a simple on off switch which I was going to wire into my aux fuse board. Both red wires together to the switch, black to the fuse board and then a power wire from fuse board to the other side of the switch. But a fly in the ointment is there are 3 wires from the switch instead of just two. Can anyone advise me how to correctly wire them please?

[greywolf]

Does the switch have a light? If that is the case.....

[Tris]

Sorry for the late reply, no light on the switch I’m afraid.

[greywolf]

Then the reason for the third connection needs to be determined. A simple on/off switch, SPST or single pole single throw, has two connections. An SPDT, single pole double throw, is a selector switch so one side could be low beam and the other side high beam for example. That kind of switch could be SPDT center off. You can test the switch poles with a meter or test light to see what effect the switch has in different positions.

[bigpie]

If you need help with the switch give me a shout

[Rusty Nuts]

Does your switch definitely have only two positions, Tris?

[Tris]

Yes it’s only a rocker switch. Here’s two pictures. The new switch has 3 wires and the old switch only has two.

[Tris]

Big pie thanks for that. One question. The driving lights are the same as yours. What gauge wire would you suggest to wire them to and from the fuse box?

[bigpie]

They claim to drawn between 9-12W, I'm assuming that is per light, so 24W max is 2 amp at 12V. You could probably go as high as 26 AWG. The existing wires on these chinese spots are pretty thin anyway.

[Tris]

Any ideas on what the 3rd wire is for?

Also which chip do I have to solder the legs on in the spot lights so that they don’t switch modes?

[TLPower]

I'm with Greywolf, set your multimeter to ohms/continuity and go through all the wires. My thoughts would be feed in, two feeds out. I'm sorry I can't help with the chips. (I never thought I would ever say that.)

[Tris]

TLPower, cheers for that. there's always room for chips surely!