ignition switch question

[evilokc]

sorry if this is dumb but the ignition "hot" terminal on the ignition switch. is that just the ignition terminal?

[1project2many]

Are you following instructions to connect an accessory? Hot is usually the battery connection but it depends on the wording.

[Jesse Z]

Hot should be lead in from battery. Ignition usually is labeled IGN.

[dsraven]

there should be a battery terminal, possibly 14ga red or 12ga black wire.

then an ignition terminal, possibly an 18 ga tan color,

then an accesory terminal, possibly 14ga pink

then, if you have a switch with the starter integral to the ign switch instead of a push pedal on the floor, there will be a starter terminal, possibly purple 16ga

if you are looking at the back of the switch, with the battery terminal at the bottom, 6 oclock position, then the ignition terminal would be at 11 o clock, the solenoid (starter) terminal would be at 1 o clock and the accy terminal would be at the 3 o clock position

hope that helps

[dsraven]

sorry, maybe I read/understood this wrong.
if you are looking to connect something to the ign hot terminal and you want it to work only when the key is on in the engine run position, then connect it to the ign terminal. use a fused relay if it is anything that has a decent draw because the ign switch battery supply wire isn't huge to run a bunch of power hogging accy's.
if you want to have that accy work but don't want the engine running then connect it to the accy terminal (again, the relay disclaimer).
if you have something that you may want to run for extended periods then you may wanna think about not connecting to the ign terminal because the ign coil can get really hot or if you have points ign then the points will likely fry quickly.
some guys will run a switch by itself, connected to a seperate freshly wired (fused at the battery) power source, so they can run their accy any time and not worry about overloading an old wiring harness. a relay is also an idea if you want a small switch that can be hidden out of the way. the little switch makes the relay turn on to supply power to whatever. small gage wire from the switch to the relay, larger gage wire and a fuse from the relay to the accy.
so, at the battery there is a fuse of sufficient size to run the accy plus a margin for voltage drop due to the length of the wire run, then the proper gage of wire to the relay, then more of that proper gage of wire from the relay to the accy and finally the accy has it's own ground to complete the circuit.
see the attachments for some ideas for fuses (auto reset circuit breakers) and a wiring draw chart for wire gage requirements used for the amp draw and run length.
answered?

[dsraven]

here is a pic of how the relay would be wired

[mr48chev]

Good point there, the stock ignition switches don't like handing a lot of amps if you have high amp draw accessories. They work great with just the basic radio and heater with no amps or AC or other high draw pieces.

[evilokc]

the directions say hot terminal but later in the directions it says key on accessory. that's just the accessory terminal correct?

[dsraven]

correct, accy terminal which will be hot with the key on accy. maybe check with a test light to be sure it is operating like what you need. put the test light on the accy terminal and turn the key to accy, the light should come on. now turn the key to the ign on terminal and see if the accy terminal is still powered. if thats what you need then youre good to go. also check the accy you are installing to see how much draw it has. the stock wiring isn't rated for too much draw.