Gage lighting problems!
 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3402/...a3170d.jpg?v=0

Above is a little diagram i drew up of my dimmer setup. For some reason the black box gets extremely hot and causes the gage lights to flicker on and off...very obnoxious...my theory is that there may be too much draw? please look it over and tell me what you guys think...i installed these gages:

http://images.channeladvisor.com/Sel.../1/RIG-662.jpg

I got them on ebay...here is a direct link CLICK HERE

Thanks in advanced.

i realize the diagram kinda sux...my other thought was get rid of the black box (i think its the power inverter) and go directly into the dimmer switch (dimmer 1).

well i know electricity pretty well but im kinda lost on this, are you running two dimmer switches???

yea...the one that was already in the truck and then the one that came with the gages...it's wired into that black box which i believe is a power inverter.

if it was me personally, i would have jus ran one dimmer, but it looks as if the aftermarket dimmer is a direct wire in to that black box. I would like to know what power it inverts. higher to lower watts? or Lower to higher watts?

yea that i do not know...if i knew it i could prolly figure out what to do...i think tmrw i am going to try connecting it to a constant source...i really dnt know wat to do lol. this will take a lot of thinking.

Hmmm...what would be the best way to wire this so that when i turn my headlights on, the gage lights go on. (minus tapping into the stock dimmer switch, that's what i already did)

Tap it into your dash lights wire. That's what I did when I ran these, eliminated the need for that dinky paper thin switch they give you.

mine came with a dimmer and power inverter all on the same wire (there isn't a switch)...are you saying i can cut the wire before the inverter...thus eliminating it and the dimmer?

the setup i have looks like this...cept the black box is smaller and seems waterproof:

http://www.bluetechautohaus.com/imag...o_relay_02.jpg

cmon guys...i know someone has to have some experience with this.

i'd go with what trevor said.. so you can control the gauges with your dimmer switch. try it and see if it helps.

Yea i'm not 100% sure about what he's saying. What i'm getting out of it is to cut before the inverter and just take the positive and negative wires and tap into the light switch...my only problem with that is...what will happen without the inverter? the last thing i wanna do is short anything or fry the light board.

sooo it'd be like this:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3433/...229d95.jpg?v=0

No no... You need that black box.

That's what I'm assuming is what changes your truck voltage to whatever is rated for for those gauges.

What I think you need to do is find the wire that is how when you turn that nob to on when you turn the gauges on. Then cut that wire from that knob switch and tap that into the factory harness for the on off control of the lights. Find the other wire that controls dimmer via test light and do the same on the dimmer switch and tap them together.

Red is constant power and black is ground...

Hope that makes sense...

Those 3 wires on that knob are power, dimmer, and on/off. I'm almost sure.

yea that makes it better...mine only has two wires i believe...cause i know i can't shut it off.

Well then there's your answer! One of the wires on that switch is a power in from that box and the other is a dimmer back to the box going to the gauges.

ok...and then the other pos. neg. wires go to the light switch itself correct?

gah...going to bed..i'll check up on this tmrw morn b4 work...thanks in advanced trevor.

You can't just go chopping things off and hooking them up to whatever you want. You don't even know what this "black box" is but somehow you think you can just take it out and you'll be fine? Its not an inverter, that much I can assure you. You can't just bypass it and hook things up to other devices. Well, actually you can if you don't mind it going up in smoke.

It gets hot because resistance creates heat. If you're saying it gets really hot and the lights start acting funny, get rid of the system and buy one that isn't a piece of junk. Randomly cutting wires and splicing them into other random circuits will just melt the rest of it.

I beg to differ on your logic, with all due respect. If you read the previous posts you will see that the objective is NOT to cut before the black box, which i can assure you IS the power inverter. What i believe is happening to cause the inverter to heat up so much is the fact that there is too much current draw on the system itself. By me having the lights tapped into the stock dimmer switch it is creating more than enough power that it's supposed to have and thus the resistor inside the inverter is working twice as hard.

I will find out today once i check it out (i have all of the tools i need, so no need to lecture me on test lights, ohmmeters, etc...). Also as far as buying one "that isn't a piece of junk" I don't have that kind of money, so unless you wanna buy it for me I am going to stick with this one. Thanks for the concern though.

Ah, pretty sure you don't know what you're talking about. You can't just make up names for electronic devices that sound cool and throw in some smart sounding words here and there. Your logic and theory proves this as it makes no sense and is electrically incorrect. I'm not breaking you balls. You are just talking about things you don't understand.

So if you have this thing hooked up in a way that is contrary to the instructions it came with, I suggest you undo it and put it back the way it is supposed to be before it burns out. You should not be hooking this thing up some other way when you do not have the electrical skills and understanding to know what you're getting yourself into. Otherwise you are going to have to buy a new one anyway because its going to burn up.

i got some of those sitting in the truck
some one needs to take them off my hands

What the hell are you talking about? There are NO directions, i did what was pretty logical at the time. I think you need to re-read what i wrote, look up the terms, look at my diagram, look at what i bought, and think reaallll hard. And tell you what, once i fix it, you will be the first to know. I believe I figured out why it isn't working, and i will attempt it after work...so if you don't want to pitch ideas about how you would go abouts figuring it out stay off my thread, you're just taking up space, thanks for nothing jack-ass.

Directions:

http://stores.ebay.com/D1-Zone/Gauge...struction.html

It is indeed a power inverter.

oh man, you are god, thanks...and also thanks for clarifying that i was right saying that it was a power inverter :biglaugh: