reverse glow wiring help

[phantom_19]

Hi

Yesterday i received my reverse glow gauges from ebay. But it did not come with a installation guide.
I think these faces light up by themselves instead of using a backlight if im not mistaken. So should i take out all the backlights?

I took some pictures. The face plates all have connectors that go to the power inverter as they call it. Shown in left bottom.
I am not sure where the power inverter should connect to. It should dim(i got a dimmer with 3 connecting points),but i have no clue which wires go where on the dimmer.

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[4Lurker4]

Yup, these won't need the bulbs behind it (although it won't make a difference if you keep them). Although check the bulbs before removing them, you'll obviously still need the ones for all the warnings and I know on the 2g there is one for the mileage, I figure there is one for 1g too, so you'll need to keep that one too if you want to check mileage at night.

 

[ramsack]

You will still need bulbs to light up the needles. Your kit looks cheap and broken. I'd be asking for my money back or a different set.

 

[phantom_19]

You will still need bulbs to light up the needles. Your kit looks cheap and broken. I'd be asking for my money back or a different set.

So you are the type that looks at the cover without opening the book. You dont know if its broken or not. And I would rather have you not comment in this thread anymore. The world is full of negativity already.
Thank you

 

[ramsack]

Hi

Yesterday i received my reverse glow gauges from ebay. But it did not come with a installation guide.
I think these faces light up by themselves instead of using a backlight if im not mistaken. So should i take out all the backlights?

Wow.

And your second picture shows the dimming potentiometer not connected to anything, and it should be...but fine, have fun, moron...you seem to know everything already despite coming here to ask questions, mainly from people who have installed kits like these before.

Don't worry about me returning to this thread.

 

[phantom_19]

Wow.

And your second picture shows the dimming potentiometer not connected to anything, and it should be...but fine, have fun, moron...you seem to know everything already despite coming here to ask questions, mainly from people who have installed kits like these before.

Don't worry about me returning to this thread.

Doesn't mean its broken. You answers reveal exactly what age mentality you have.
I try to stay polite and you have to call people names. But that's what you get if your brain is slightly underdeveloped.

 

[ramsack]

I just call it as I see it. You are acting like a moron and treating others like they are, despite trying to give you advice. You come here for help, yet reject it. I have installed several of these eBay gauge kits on my own cars over the years, and I can tell you with certainty your kit is broken. You obviously have no skill set in electronics, so someone like you would be better off sending that kit for one that is not broken. I was polite in my first post by simply stating facts and not taking hits at anyone, then you were the person who brought negativity into this thread by saying basically I am an idiot who doesn't read instructions.

 

[phantom_19]

I just didn't like you first answer man. Its hard for me to get parts. And some one shoots down my plane of happiness. Just doesn't fly. The 3 pin meter doesnt have wires connected to it, and you call it broken. Well its not,i just need to figure out the wiring.
Here is what i got so far.
When the volume of it is all the way down (like when you lower a volume of a stereo). The 2nd and 3rd pin get a beep on the multimeter.
When the volume is all the way up. The first and second pin get a beep on the multimeter.(This explanation counts for the top picture. Not the one down here.
The 3 pin is a "B20K" for people that know this stuff.

Just took a pic to show the back of the potentio. The left and right pin have a hole in it. The middle one is covered if it helps.

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Ok so i just figured it out by myself that it doesnt matter if you use the left or right side pin as + or -. But the mystery for me is if i need to wire the power cable for the gauge faces to the middle pin.

 

[ramsack]

Yes, the kit is broken. I never said it couldn't be fixed, though. There were 2 wires soldered to the potentiometer, and they broke off during shipping (or elsewhere) from flexing. They should have had heat-shrink tubing installed over the solder joint and over a good length of the wire. I can even tell it is broken because there is already solder on the leads and you can see some wire in there.

The cable pair with 2 red wires are most likely what connect to it. The two leads on the potentiometer are the two that need to be connected (middle and right in your picture above). Polarity does not matter (they are both red).

 

[phantom_19]

The picture you looked at shows a red wire and a black(ground) with a red stripe. The thickest cable pair is for the real power and ground on the first and last pin. The thinner cable ground could be wired together with the other ground right? And the power of the thinner cable pair should go to the middle pin.

 

[ramsack]

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In that picture there is a pair of wires on the top, and another pair on the bottom. The pair on the top are two red wires, these connect to the potentiometer. The bottom two are red and black, and are your 12V power.

EDIT: I see on the top pair the top wire's red is a stripe. Is the bottom pair strictly just a solid red and a solid black?

 

[phantom_19]

EDIT: I see on the top pair the top wire's red is a stripe. Is the bottom pair strictly just a solid red and a solid black?

The bottom pair also has a ground with a red stripe.And just a red one for power.But the wires are thinner than the top cable pair

 

[ramsack]

Well, it's going to be a coin-toss to connect the right leads to power. I would be inclined to connect the thinner wires to the potentiometer and assume that the thicker ones are for power.

 

[phantom_19]

I tried something. I connected the multimeter to the thinnest cable pair. It gave me a beep. When i tried it with the thick cable pair. It didn't beep.
Could this bring any further information?

 

[ramsack]

No. I don't even know what a beep on a multimeter means.

 

[phantom_19]

Basically that the circuit is closed. Signal is getting from point A to wherever your aiming the negative needle.

 

[ramsack]

I would rely on actual readings than a beep. Even so, it's anyone's guess as to how the circuit is specifically built. I would just test which is which by connecting everything and applying power in a quick burst. If a gauge doesn't light, switch the pairs.

 

[phantom_19]

Allright my man. Appreciate your help. Sorry for the whole mixup on top. Still love you as a friend.
Will light it up as soon as i connect everything

 

[ramsack]

Let us know how it goes.

 

[ericemery]

that inverter should require a signal wire to turn on. Like a remote wire for an amplifier.

I havent installed these on my 1g, but I am guess that they are like the faces my friend installed in his dakota. His inverter had a relay pack built into it, that required him to connect the signal wire to his parking light wire. Basically telling that reverse glow inverter to turn on with the lights.

The inverter also required a ground and a constant power source. allowing the glow to turn on, even if the key is off, but the lights on. I would double check your auction listing, and see if it said instructions were included.

 

[ramsack]

that inverter should require a signal wire to turn on. Like a remote wire for an amplifier.

That's a design preference, not an absolute on how all inverters work.

 

[phantom_19]

Okay. So i just had a major screw up in my cluster. I removed the needle assembly when i put on the new gauges. Every one is saying that you shouldn't do that, you will need to buy a new gauge cluster. Is there any way to calibrate this? The RPM and speedometer i calibrated correctly. The fuel gauge and water temp are the ones that need recalibration. My oil meter never worked (wiring screwed up). So with the fuel gauge i wanted to fill up my gas tank completely. Removing the fuel needle assembly before i do it. The little iron pin in the cluster should move to the fullest position. And then put the needle back pointing on "full".
Is this a good idea?

 

[Tamatalon39]

Ok so i am not sure if you got any more info on the wires. but here it is the beep you hear is a continuity test from your multimeter. so if the small wires are beeping that is the set that goes to the pot. it is basically splitting the positive wire with a pot to determine the level (volume) of brightness. the other set of thicker wires are for power and ground, you need to find the appropriate wires in your headlight switch to tie into. and then mount the poten. you may need to trial and error that but it appears that the middle and right side tabs had solder on them before. if you need parts I had a set of these guages in my talon when i got it but no power inverter was to be found. so I had to remove them. I wish I could just buy an inverter as I would use them, good luck

 

[ramsack]

That's not how an EL inverter works... The potentiometer controls pulse width, not current or voltage.

 

[Tamatalon39]

without getting into a pissing contest about who's right or wrong try it either way, and see if it works, if its a dimmers switch then thats how it works. (i dont have the rest of my setup to know if it is truely a dimmer or not)