I would like to put a small switch on my vert courtesy lamp power line to be able to easly turn them off when I am working on the car. How many amp switch would I need, which wire should I put it on, and do I need a relay if they hold a lot of power? Big thank you. Brian.

I use a ground disconnect on my battery for this purpose. I also consider it something of an anti-theft device.

Couldn't ya just pull the fuse?

Jeff

Pull the lamp fuse and place an ampmeter accross the fuse terminals. Turn on the lamps and measure the current. It's probalby less than 2A in which case almost any switch would work - including a microswitch.

That circuit is fused at 20 amps. It runs the clock (if equipped) the courtesy lights, and the lighter. It's the lighter of course that would/could use all that current.

If you were going to switch the circuit, you'd want a 20 amp switch.
Most radio shack shack switches are rated that high.

Why not use one of those quick twist connectors on the battery cable?
Loits of guys use those, for storage, service, or anti theft.

Guys,
I realy just want to kill the lamps. I don't want to do the quick disconnect on the battery and kill my digital clock and my stataion and eq presets each time, or go totally under the dash to pull the fuse. I use a battery tender for storage which works great.

Can I just attach the 20 amp Radio Shack switch in the power line of the courtesy lights? Thanks Brian.

You can interupt the power with the radio shack 20A switch. To do so you could cut the power feed wire and wire in the switch but I would also run the same size wire from these connection points to and from the switch. Don't use anything smaller.
Another option is to put the switch inline on the door pin switches. I would think both the left and right door pin switch wires come to a common point somewhere and by interupting the ground side of the dome lights at this point, the lights could also be turned off.

Jim

Jim,
Cutting the power wire will be my best option. This way power will be cut to both front sides and the rear console lamps. Thanks. Brian.