PC Case mod issue (illuminated switch)

[Kevin2341]

Hey all,

I bought a cathode light kit for my PC case a couple days ago and decided I wanted to mod it so that I could have a switch on the front of my pc to easily turn it on and off.

Today I spliced the wire and threw a switch on and soldered it up. I've tested the switch and it works. However, I think there is too much of a voltage drop across the LED within the switch.

The cathode tubes are rated for 12v into an inverter which turns 12v into 680v. The current draw is 5mA (the tubes themselves are 300mm long [11.8inches]).

Is there any way I can increase the voltage to get enough to the inverter? I thought about splicing it into a parallel connection, but that would drop my amps.

Any ideas? Or do I need to replace my illuminated switch with a non-illuminated?

 

[Tom.G]

The switch is probably wired incorrectly. Illuminated switches typically have three connections:

• Supply
• Switched Output
• Lamp

With the second wire from the lamp internally connected to Output.
Get them sorted and it will likely work.