Dimming for SAAS gauges

[b1nelly Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close b1nelly]

Hey,
I've installed a set of SAAS dual reading gauges on the dash, but even with the dimming they run really bright.
Since we have a negative dimmed dash setup in the cars, I've attempted to use both a dash 12v and the variable power wire from the back of the dimmer knob, but neither will dim the LED back lights any further.
The wire at the back of the dimmer did dim the other LED switches I have installed however the SAAS gauges didnt dim any further than they currently do.

Any ideas on what i'm missing here?

This is one of the gauges
http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/Pro...G611240/525634

They require a constant 12v power to hold their memory, a negative, and a 12v dash light.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Pradosaur Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pradosaur]

Tried putting a resistor on the positive line to the lights?

[b1nelly Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close b1nelly]

Thanks

Pradosaur

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Pradosaur , Yeah i had looked at that, but i was hoping to have them dimable with the rest of the dash lights as well.

It's a simpler approach but would relay on finding the right sized resistor for the level of brightness i wanted. not completely sure how to do that, but no doubt the gents at Jaycar can help out.

[Pradosaur Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pradosaur]

I’m guessing that you could run the positive wire for th3 gauge via the instrument clusters potentiometer wheel but there no guarantee that light would dim At the same rate

[b1nelly Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close b1nelly]

That approach doesn't work as the potentiometer varies the earth not the positive which the lights run off.
I'm be making a circuit using a transistor and a few resistors. If it works out I'll let u know. If not. I'll be in hiding as the wife will kill me. Lol

[b1nelly Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close b1nelly]

Well after much stuffing around.......got it as best as I could.

The original plan was to use a transistor to effectively flip the voltage drop in the earth after the factory dimmer into a positive circuit that would then connect into the gauges.
The wiring was simple, see http://www.fordxr6turbo.com/forum/up...1190620551.jpg

This ford forum had a really good write up.
http://www.fordxr6turbo.com/forum/to...h-dash-lights/

It worked on the bench and once connected to the dimmer, i could see the voltage drop in the gauges through the multimeter but yeah, the gauges didnt dim, they turned off.
By the looks of it, these new dual SAAS gauges use the dash power almost like a relay switch in that power is there, or it isn't, meaning the dimmer is on, or off.

I tried wiring up a few different sized resistors into the dash power, and tried a few different set up, but yeah, as soon as the voltage running through the dash circuit dropped too much, the dimmer would turn off.

Bit disappointing really.
I ended up changing the colours of the gauges (They're multi colour) and found that green was the dullest of them all so thats what it is.
Oh well.

[xlr8_87 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close xlr8_87]

Sweet thanks for that - I'm about to fit off the some SAAS gauges and was worried they might be the same. Another option would be to tint the face of the gauges with one of those tint spray cans you can use for headlights