Stereo install with Dimmer

[mstieg]

The wires on the SCOSCHE kit are labled as such:

 

1) ORANGE - "dash light illumination"

2) ORANGE / BLACK Stripe - "Dimmer Ground"

 

Should I be looking for a dimmer ground wire somewhere for this black striped orange wire? I would assume the dimmer is already grounded somewhere in the car.

 

Also, the pic of another install kit on the other thread shows only one orange wire on that kit.

[emann420]

Matt, use the illumination wire if possible. This wire should not dim with the dimmer, it will only show 12v+ when the parking lights are on. Factory dimmer controls don't like aftermarket radios hooked up to them. Just cap off the Orange/Black, Orange/White and use the solid Orange for your illumination wire.

 

E-Mann

[RF600]

What the dimmer will do is when it is powered(12+) the display on the head unit will dim some. The dash dimmer switch will not have any control on the head unit.

[mstieg]

Thats what I thought. My last deck didn't have a dimmer option however, so obviously the dash dimmer had no effect on the stereo display. This made for a fairly bright light from the stereo when the rest of the dash was a nice subtle orange.

 

So there's no way I can use that orange/black "dimmer ground" wire to make this work and dim the deck's display along with the rest of the dash via the stock turning dimmer knob? I really wish this were possible.

 

Thanks,

[mstieg]

Matt, use the illumination wire if possible. This wire should not dim with the dimmer, it will only show 12v+ when the parking lights are on. Factory dimmer controls don't like aftermarket radios hooked up to them. Just cap off the Orange/Black, Orange/White and use the solid Orange for your illumination wire.

 

E-Mann

 

What I have is a single solid orange AND a orange/black stripe wire from the Scosche kit, and a orange/white stripe wire from the JVC's plug for the deck labled "dimmer". I would assume this dimmer wire goes with the solid Schoshe orange dimmer wire, and the orange/black Schoshe "dimmer ground" wire gets taped off??

 

Please clarify Eric. Thanks a ton. Again, it would be stellar if I can get the stock dimmer to work with the deck. It seems other non-Scosche install wire adapters don't have both dimmer wires like the Schoshe does. hmm. :?:

[emann420]

Matt, use the illumination wire if possible. This wire should not dim with the dimmer, it will only show 12v+ when the parking lights are on. Factory dimmer controls don't like aftermarket radios hooked up to them. Just cap off the Orange/Black, Orange/White and use the solid Orange for your illumination wire.

 

E-Mann

 

What I have is a single solid orange AND a orange/black stripe wire from the Scosche kit, and a orange/white stripe wire from the JVC's plug for the deck labled "dimmer". I would assume this dimmer wire goes with the solid Schoshe orange dimmer wire, and the orange/black Schoshe "dimmer ground" wire gets taped off??

 

Please clarify Eric. Thanks a ton. Again, it would be stellar if I can get the stock dimmer to work with the deck. It seems other non-Scosche install wire adapters don't have both dimmer wires like the Schoshe does. hmm. :?:

 

You are correct about the dimmer wires. Use the orange wire from the Scoshe wiring harness to go to the orange/white from the JVC. Cap off, tape off, or remove the orange/black wire from the Scoshe wiring harness. This will dim the radio whenever the parking lights are on, but they will not be affected by the dash dimmer.

[mstieg]

Thanks Eric.

 

Is there a way to set it up so the dimmer will have variable brightness intesity based on the dimmer's variable rheostat in the dash???

 

The manual for my RCA claims settings for auto dim when the headlights are turned on, a manual on/off, and even a timer setting. No mention of variable brightness however.

 

If the radio is capable of interpreting a variable signal, I could wire that up assuming I could find the rheostat's wiring colors from the schematics. My further question is whether this is possible? What I need to know is if the "signal" voltage indicating the headlight on/off (via that orange wire) is the same as the full bright voltage of that dash's rheostat. I'll have to dig out the multimeter and check it out. If you know the answer already, I'd appreciate your insight Eric.

 

-Matt