[Bionic]

1st off, great shipping time, stud extensions were included, so very happy there.


gauge looks great, and is reading boost/vac levels fine.
Only problem is that when I turn the headlights on, the display numbers flicker quickly between normal brightness & the dimmer brightness.

I checked for shorts, tried different grounding points, & thicker gauge wires.
One odd thing: the 'V' & the 'psi' pictures stay steady on, it's just the display numbers & the bar graph.

I have the power tapped from the cig. lighter, grounded to bare metal under the dash, and the using the dimmer wire that was the light for the original boost gauge.


Any thoughts / help is greatly appreciated.

 

[SNOOPALOOP]

I have the same gauge. This gauge is unhappy with the wrong type of power. I hooked mine up directly to the stereo/cd changer fuse in the panel along side the dash. Works fine. Just run a power wire over there, smash the wire in with the fuse and your'e golden. Good luck. Btw.. green wire is useless.

 

[Bionic]

I have the same gauge. This gauge is unhappy with the wrong type of power. I hooked mine up directly to the stereo/cd changer fuse in the panel along side the dash. Works fine. Just run a power wire over there, smash the wire in with the fuse and your'e golden. Good luck. Btw.. green wire is useless.

Why do you say the green wire is useless?
For me the green wire (dimmer) is *trying* to dim the brightness, just flickers between the brightness levels.

 

[Bionic]

Morning bump for input :bandit:

 

[vgauges]

The green wire is what tells the gauge that the headlights is on, so that the gauge will dim. you should not connect it to a variable dimmer, but to the headlights or parklights signal so that the gauge sees that the lights are on. Brightness is then controlled by the 2 settings for brightness with lights off ("BR") and brightness with lights on ("BP").

Brightness is NOT controlled by a varying voltage on that green wire, but by a definite switch between no voltage and positive voltage (about +12V).

BTW, some people with a set of these gauges will connect the green wires to a switch instead, so that when they go to they go to the track, they flip the switch and it will dim everything but the tach and oil pressure for example.

Yes, the icons do not dim... just the numbers and bargraph.

 

[SNOOPALOOP]

I just use the dimmer feature on the gauge, left the green wire hanging...

 

[vgauges]

I just use the dimmer feature on the gauge, left the green wire hanging...

Well the full dimmer feature checks the green wire to see if the lights are on or off and changes the gauge brightness to the "Br." and "Bp." settings you've made on the gauge. If you don't use it, then you have one brightness all the time. That's fine.

BTW, if you dont use the green wire, it's probably better to connect it to ground.

 

[Bionic]

Update:

I fixed this about a week ago, but I've been kinda lazy with getting around to posting. :zzzz:

Got out the 'ol voltmeter & tried to find a wire/fuse/etc that was steady voltage with the lights on. Harder than it sounds. :jester:
Found a steady +12 volt on the headlamp fuse, but they are on separate fuses/circuits for low beams & high beams, & only one has power at a time.

I finally tracked down the wire harness going to outside lighting & found the wires that power the side parking lamps... bingo! :thumbsup: These get a solid +12 if you're using low beams, high beams, just parking lights, or even make changes to your dash brightness level.

So spliced into that line & connected it to the Vgauge's green line. Now everything is working 100%. Gauge dims when lights are on, with no flickering.


Thanks again for a great product guys! :clap:

Pics to follow soon.

 

[vgauges]

Glad you got it working properly.

Found a steady +12 volt on the headlamp fuse, but they are on separate fuses/circuits for low beams & high beams, & only one has power at a time.

btw if you run into this and don't want chase down the park wires you should just be able to connect it with 2 diodes... non-banded end of one to the low beam, non-banded end of other to the high beam, and the banded ends of both to the green wire. I haven't actually tried it but it works so well in my head. :thumbsup:

 

[satyr]

I fixed this about a week ago, but I've been kinda lazy with getting around to posting. :zzzz:

Got out the 'ol voltmeter & tried to find a wire/fuse/etc that was steady voltage with the lights on. Harder than it sounds. :jester:
Found a steady +12 volt on the headlamp fuse, but they are on separate fuses/circuits for low beams & high beams, & only one has power at a time.

I finally tracked down the wire harness going to outside lighting & found the wires that power the side parking lamps... bingo! :thumbsup: These get a solid +12 if you're using low beams, high beams, just parking lights, or even make changes to your dash brightness level.

So spliced into that line & connected it to the Vgauge's green line. Now everything is working 100%. Gauge dims when lights are on, with no flickering.


Thanks again for a great product guys! :clap:

Pics to follow soon.

What color was that wire and where is it located?
Thanks!

 

[getnpsi]

hmm interesting. call me lazy but all i connected was positive, ground, and my boost line. I do keep the brightness on the lowest, i dont see how anyone would want it brighter than that.

 

[Bionic]

What color was that wire and where is it located?
Thanks!

Pull off the cover near the hood release latch and there's a harness down there.
Look for a black wire with a lime green stripe, that's your guy.

 

[vgauges]

hmm interesting. call me lazy but all i connected was positive, ground, and my boost line. I do keep the brightness on the lowest, i dont see how anyone would want it brighter than that.

Lazy,
It depends on your car and preferences. Most of the time it would be brightened for daytime use to counteract sunlight and the fact that your pupils are closed more to adjust for general higher brightness during the day. Convertible owners love the high-brightness gauges. Also, you can set it on a switch to brighten it (or say a tach and oil-pressure gauge) when at the track.