I just bought a boost gauge

[BAC5.2]

I just plucked the wiring clip for the ash tray and extended that wiring up to the gauge.

Dimmer works too.

[BAC5.2]

Oh, about the battery.

The Yellow Top is a Group 34. Stock is a Group 35 (I think I mixed that up earlier).

The Group 34 is a larger battery (physically) than the Group 35. The Red top is available in a Group 35, but it's not really worth it. If you want a gelcell to relocate the battery to the trunk, then just get the Yellow top.

[legacy92ej22t]

wierd guys, does your little light that is around the lighter work with the dimmer? Mine does and my gauge dims too.

[georryan]

My cigerette lighter light dims, but my gauge doesn't. I tapped the wrong line. I tapped the solid red one instead of the red/green.

[QuickDrive]

Mine doesn't dim either, I used the ashtray light...

I can't remember which wire of the 2 I used, but when I used the other one, the dimming worked, but opposite to the actual dimming... so when it was full bright, the gauge was off, and visa versa

[vrg3]

You have to use both wires to get dimming. If your gauge doesn't let you access both sides of the light bulb (or if it grounds one side internally), you need to do something like this:

http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~v/dimmer/

[georryan]

So how are people getting their dimmer to work right? I seriously don't think most people are making your inverter vrg3. If they are then more power to them, and I'm surprised, but I just don't see non-electrically inclined people jumping at the chance to grab a soddering tool to make an inverter.

I'm just curious. It just sounds like people have done it some other way as well.

[vrg3]

Like I said, if your gauge gives you access to both sides of the bulb, you can just connect both illumination wires and it'll dim right. That's probably what these guys are doing.

[georryan]

So if I have a black and white wire coming out of the bulb does that count?


So instead of grounding it I'd connect it to both of the wires in the ashtray or whatever?

I'm sorry I didn't understand fully what you meant.

[vrg3]

As long as neither the black nor white wires are connected the ground or the chassis of the gauge, that counts.

Find both illumination wires going to the ashtray bulb, or the cigarette lighter bulb, or to the radio (you can look here to find the right wires). Splice into them, and connect one to the black wire and one to the white wire. That should do it.

The trick is that you need both wires.

[georryan]

I TOTALLY understand now. Thanks for clearing that up. It makes sense, but I didn't want to do that because I was afraid of doing something bad.

Sorry for being so slow.

[vrg3]

Nah, it makes perfect sense to be cautious... it's scary to see how little regard some people on certain other boards (*ahem*) seem to have for the dangers of careless wiring.

[georryan]

LOL

Yeah, I try and be careful. I still find it kind of amazing how I can go into a computer architecture and digital logic class and never have done really much wiring at all and pull off a good grade. The first lab we had we had to build a board with some chips and LEDs on it. We used it to store code and run programs. I was like "i have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm matching up the pictures and numbers on the board with these little chips and resistors and LEDs. So this is a resisitor?? Which way does this LED go in, does it matter? One prong is shorter than the other." haha

I got through it without any trouble, but I like to be careful when it comes to that stuff. I wouldn't want to hook up power to a ground and find I fried something.