question about gauges

[usmusclekiller]

I have a bunch of tinted gauges I need to hook up, and I have a couple of questions.

1.Is it alright to hook the power wires from the gauges to a switch then to a fuse and then to the battery?

2. The gauges like I said before are the tinted kind and they have both a wire to power the gauge and a wire to power the light. My question is can these two wires have the same power source since it will be hooked up to a switch and needs to be on at all times?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[project_tsi]

You can hook both the light and the guage unit wires up to the same switch, yes. However the guage unit itself will only be on when the switch is on, and the light will always be on too. So if the switch is on, then its gauge and light on, or gauge and light off. I actually have mine hooked up like this and ran to a switch, and its been working fine. I like it.

 

[usmusclekiller]

Great!! thanks alot man! Yea I have tinted gauges so I always need the light on or they'll be pointless hahah. What kind of fuse did you use? I have 5 gauges going on it.

 

[project_tsi]

I used a small inline fuse, I don't rembember the amp though. Just get a assortment of fuses, and start small, and use the smallest amp fuse you can that doesn't blow when you flip the switch, this way is safest.

 

[Turbo2GDsm]

Dude by tinted gauges do you mean gauges similar to the defi gauges, where you cant see anything unless the gauge is active?

 

[usmusclekiller]

yup thats the ones

 

[GSTealth]

You might consider wiring the gauges to be ignition-switched (on a relay) so as to not be a constant drain on your battery, even when your car is off. (And you wont have to be constantly switching them on/off manually)