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Dash Light Dimmer

d00dz

By d00dz,
in General Maintenance

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d00dz Grand Master

d00dz

Posted
Posted

Hey guys,

I would like to put in new bulbs for the dash. And also would like to add in a dash light dimmer. So that I can adjust the brightness of the light. Just want to know what wires I need to attach a potenmeter (sp?) to?

Or let me know what switch/module I can make/solder etc.. to make one.

Thanks

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mad082 Grand Master

mad082

Posted
Posted

go to dick smith or somewhere like that to get a dimmer. it is the same thing that you would use for a front/rear speaker fader. generally they have 4 (2 in, 2 out) wires on them. you will only need to use 2 (1 in, 1 out) of them. also you will need to find out which wire is the light wire on the back of the dash.

easiest way is with a test light or multimeter. LED test light recommended over bulb test light, but multimeter is best. to find out take the dash out, but leave it plugged in. the switch on the lights and remove 1 plug at a time to narrow down which plug contains the wire. even after you find it check all the others to make sure it isn't multi feed. then it is time to find the wire in the plug. then once you have the wire then add in the dimmer switch. you will probably need to add some wire so that you can positition the switch where you want.

fr0st Experienced

fr0st

Posted
Posted

Its called a potensiometer (or pot... dse guys will know what you mean). You'd need a fairly beefy one, 2 watts atleast I'd say and about 500 ohms.

They only have 3 terminals. Its basically two variable resistors, where the middle pin in the common between them and the two outer pins are there inputs. As you turn the knob one resistor will increase resistance and the other will decrease.

You only need to use one of them so the wires need to go between the middle pin and one of the outside pins. Snips either the lights 12v or ground wire and connect them to the pot and that should be it.

  • 8 months later...
Keeper Proficient

Keeper

Posted
Posted

hmm reading this has got us pondering, we are replacing the damaged wiring from the car-steal shit

at the moment the clock and the dash doesn't work for lights, are these linked for the dimmer reasons? where can i find a feed to the instrument cluster so i can feed off the park lights at least, the c**ts made a real mess of the loom and im not sure i can find where they were connected originally

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