Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2010 17:28:23 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: need electrics advice..wiring in some gauges and..
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Right on page 97.56 it shows gray/blue wire coming out of the 'instrument
panel light dimmer sw' ....current track 42...
and it shows it going to T14 pin 3.
as you may know, T14 is the main plug on the instrument cluster.
go to T14 .....it's has about 12 wires, find the gray/blue wire at pin 3
...
tap into that ..
and you'll have dimmable instrument lighting for your new gauges.
I use those trailer wire tap-in things.
I wire my oil pressure gauge instrument lighting to 'ignition on' voltage..
and I use a red cover for the bulb inside the oil press gauge ..
I like that ..red oil press gauge illumination anytime the engine is
running.
I find I have to drive about 9 nighttime hours straight before I find the
instrument lights too bright ..
I almost never dim them.
( though I do put flat black pointed squares of cardboard , about 5 X 5
inches, in those cubbies in front of the instruments.....without those,
instrument light gets reflected in the windshield, and on long drives at
night that bugs me )after a while. )
a fun source for floor cockpit lighting ..
sometimes I'll put a red LED under a front seat so it shins down on the
floor area or between the seats ..
just to be able to see things in the cockpit at night.
If you have a westy with the relay under the driver's seat.
a fun source for voltage for floor cockpit 'ambiance' lighting is the output
of that relay ..
which is only 'on' when alternator is charging . Not necessary to do it
that way of course ..
but that's an easy place to access ..
and it confirms that relay is working, to run either fridge on 12v when
driving, or that it's sending juice to your aux battery.
maybe you have this to connect your gauges with.............
I just got a nice sandwich adapter plate that goes between oil filter and
oil cooler if that's fitted..
gives a nice plate to install senders ...no taping into the engine itself in
any way.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hanson" <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2010 4:48 PM
Subject: need electrics advice..wiring in some gauges and..
> ...and I am such an electrical dunce that I'm often better off asking
> than
> trying to figure it out from Bently diagrams or circuit stuff. I am
> learning, but...
>
> I have an 84. I am mounting Oil Temp and Oil pressure gauges..I know how
> to get the gauge signals right and make the gauges work properly...but can
> someone tell me where to get a "modulated' power lead for the gauge
> lights?
> A source that is controlled by the instrument panel dimmer switch? The
> gauges..one Autometer one VDO both have secondary circuits to a little
> plug-in light...Positive and ground spade terminals. So if it's possible,
> I
> would like to tie those into my dash lights so they all dim the same
> amount. I find having gauges that aren't dimmable (nice word, eh?) is
> distracting on long dark late night drives...
>
> Can someone direct me to the right place to take off the power for the
> gauge lights? Back of the wheel below the headlight switch maybe? Or
> right
> at the foil somewhere?
>
> Theory will be wasted on me. I try, but I know not the diff between a
> resistor and a capacitor, a watt and an amp...an Ohm and an armature..
>
> Thanks, if anyone has the time.. Don Hanson
