I know there is a lot of discussion about this but I'm still a little confused. When looking at a circuit how can you tell if it's power or ground side switched? If the switch is before the load is that considered power side switched? If, for instance, it's an oil pressure switch where the switch is literally what's doing the switching is it ground side switched?
What does a power side switched and ground side switched circuit look like is I guess the basis of what I'm asking.
Scanner Danner teaches us a few was to determine if a component is ground or power side switched. When looking at a diagram, then follow the wire that doesn't go to the switch (the switch can be a button, a computer, a relay etc.).
Find your component on the diagram. Let's say it's a horn (but it could be anything). There's 2 wires that make anything work on the car, power and ground. On the diagram, trace the two wires from the horn as far as you can go. In this hypothetical scenario, you will find that one wire terminates at a ground point. If the component is always connected to ground, then it requires power to active and we can determine that it must be power side switched.
On the car, we can tell by checking the connector of the component with meter, test light etc.
Let's use that same horn circuit we pretended to look at. With the horn in your hand, back probing both pins of the connector with the horn still plugged in, you would measure ground voltage on each pin. If it has ground, and is waiting for power, it is power side switched.
