frustration at my noobness

[SMEGMA STENCH]

So as i said before i got me one of those old 80's bodystyle chevy trucks recently .

And im wiring up a digital water gauge cause the factory one was a sorry ass damned liar . By about 40 degrees lol . The new one seems to be spot on .Anyway i suck at wiring apparently . Here is what they tell you to do:

Black wire: Ground

Red wire: +12v key-on acc source

Orannge wire +12v Headlamp (switched) source

White wire - Sensor signal wire - To newly installed sensor.

Its the orange wire that is giving me the trouble . i need this thing to be able to dim when i use the dimmer . Cause i tried it at night, and its almost like having a little blue flashlight shining in you face . When i hook it up to the factory dimmer, it simply won't dim out. It fails to function in that manner at all. It just stays as bright as it can possibly go . So i called the company (glowshift) and the rep said you cannot hook it up to the gauge dimmer . You gotta hook it up to a constant on for the headlights . Basically just something that comes on when the headlights come on. He said that if i do that the dimmer function will work fine . Tried it, no go . What am i doing wrong here ?

[turbos66coupe]

Well like they said you can't dim it. All the dimmer does is regulate voltage to a bulb. Being a digital gauge its probably not using an incondescent bulb. It probably requires 12v to be lit. Maybe an led light

[SMEGMA STENCH]

Sorry to clarify they said that it does support teh dim function .

BUT you cant hook it to the dimmer switch for it to work. You have to hook it to something that comes on when the headlights themselves come on . Makes no sense to me .

And when i hook it to something that is constant when the headlights come one, the dim function still doesn't work. It just flickers a bit at best .

[SMEGMA STENCH]

Also do you guys think that maybe i could just go to radioshack and get like a potentiometer or something and hook that up ?

You know like adding my own dimmer in line somewhere.

[BlueCoupeRedVert]

Also do you guys think that maybe i could just go to radioshack and get like a potentiometer or something and hook that up ?

You know like adding my own dimmer in line somewhere.

I would say, no. That would not be any different than the wire from the dimmer switch. Just wire it like they told you to.

[turbos66coupe]

You could try a potentiometer to dim it a little. Just get one that is like from 0-100 ohms or so.

[redfiveohconv]

Sounds like if you try to wire that thing to the factory dimmer, it is eventually going to fry your ignition/power source. I've done this a couple times, it's best to get the entire cluster than retro fitting piece of shit aftermarket gauges to your OEM stuff. Maybe you can find a product that claims to work with your setup, and is designed for that application. That way you are covered. Just my experience, do it right, or replace all those fuggin gauges. But then again, I'm no electrical engineer or anything.

fried my 64 coupe wiring harness, 94 gt ignition/cluster, 94 chevy ignition/dimmer all because i wanted to dim a gauge (like you, i wasnt happy with it just being illuminated at its brightest setting)

[SMEGMA STENCH]

Ok i'll try it, they're like $3 at Radioshack. Is the OHMs the only specification that I need to worry about on the potentiometer ?

What about voltage and amps ? Maybe those dont matter