This feels like a stupid question

[Thorvindr]

I was really sure I knew the answer to this already, but things I've seen recently (in a saber I purchased) made me doubt that knowledge.

When wiring components, should the positive contact of a component be connected to the positive contact of the battery, or should the positive side of the component be "pointed" the same direction as the positive side of the battery?

The thing that made me think about this (which is a good thing I suppose) is that in this hilt, the positive end of the battery is wired to the negative end of the latching switch. The positive end of the latching switch is wired to the positive contact of the main LED. The negative contact of the main LED is wired to the negative end of the battery.

That can't be right. Right? It seems to me that I need to fix one or the other of those.

To follow up: should a resistor go on the positive or negative side of the component it's serving? I thought positive but my main LED has the resistors attached to the negative leads. So are they in the proper place or is that just one more thing I need to fix? I wouldn't be surprised either way. This thing has been such a mess; I'm never buying a lightsaber again. I'm better with a soldering iron than whatever yahoo put this thing together (though I've clearly forgotten a lot about wiring); I'll make my own from now on. I have to make so many repairs on this one I consider it a primer for my first complete build.

[Grimlock84]

On the switch it doesn't matter if it's wired up to one particular leg because the switch doesn't have polarity. As for the led resistor it does matter if it's on the positive or the negative side it will still provide the proper voltage drop for the circuit.

[Darth Obi Don]

Like Grimlock said switches don't have + - , Think of them as a way to "plug in" / "unplug" whatever wire you have it on. I usually put resistors on the + side of the LED but it doesn't really matter.
Don

[Bark]

Normal resistors limit the current in the entire circuit. It's a best practice to be consistent with where they are placed, but it doesn't matter. However, the DynaOhm is special and must be on the positive side of the LED. (It also needs its IN post connected to the power source and its OUT post connected to LED+).

[Thorvindr]

That's all good information but my main question is still unanswered. Should positive touch positive or should positive touch negative?

If I wire a circuit in parallel, will a resistor still function over the entire circuit or just across its own section?

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

That's all good information but my main question is still unanswered. Should positive touch positive or should positive touch negative?

If I wire a circuit in parallel, will a resistor still function over the entire circuit or just across its own section?

When wiring in parallel, the resistor will only work on it's own section (a reason why I always recommend one for each die). Resistors can be put on either side, but it is "normal" to put it on the (+) side.

As a side note: when buying a lightsaber, it pays to get one from a good reputable source. The problem is many come into this hobby thinking: "Hey, I can do this, it looks easy, and I can make a few extra bucks - or become the next great super duper Sabersmith" and it doesn't quite work that way.

[Thorvindr]

I'm sensing that the question is SO basic that people don't realize what I'm asking. Thank you for the bit about parallel resistors: I needed to know that too. I'll definitely wire things in parallel just to save myself the headache of extra calculation.

Now basic wiring. Does the positive pole of the battery get wired to the positive or negative contact of the [everything else]?

And yes, I absolutely SHOULD know this already but with two possibilities (both seeming completely logical) and the fact that it's been so long since I wired anything myself, I can't remember which way things are supposed to go. But like I said, my Google Fu is weirdly failing me today.

Finally: I have absolutely learned my lesson about buying lightsabers. One guess where this lemon came from (and its mate, also shoddily-wired, wrong-colored and in several other ways "not as expected").

[sgcdialler]

Positive to positive, negative to negative. Electricity only flows through LEDs in one direction.

I don't think we need to guess, and it doesn't matter. There's a store attached to this forum where you can buy things to make it right

[Bark]

Positive connects to positive. Negative connects to negative.

Switches are neither positive or negative. They merely interrupt the current. (Not to be confused with the LED for switches that have them. The LED definitely has positive and negative posts. However even then, the simple switch itself does not.)

Go back to the latching switch that sent you down this rabbit hole. It doesn't matter. The entire switch is on the positive side. The switch consumes no current. It's posts are irrelevant.

[Grimlock84]

If it has polarity ( a positive and a negative ) then you should attach positive battery source to positive pad and negative battery source to negative pad.

It changes if it's voltage drops in series (ie: LEDs).
Then you would have positive from source to positive on the LED and negative from LED to positive on the second LED. The negative of the second would then go to ground or battery negative.