Where To Get Power Only When Lights Are On

[Moodles2]

I only want my boost gauge light to be powered when the headlights are on, where can I draw it's power from other than the lightswitch itself?

[DSTROY]

I just ran a wire from the light on the ciggy lighter.

[2LV8ETR]

I only want my boost gauge light to be powered when the headlights are on, where can I draw it's power from other than the lightswitch itself?

Where have you mounted the gauge?

[Moodles2]

Haven't mounted it anywhere yet, need to go out and buy some wire and extend the wiring abit, the light on the cig lighter is a good idea, easy to get to.

[br3ndan]

easily overloaded tho

say u wire in power from the ciggie lighter

then plug a GPS into the ciggie lighter can cause it to overload and blow the fuse.

[blind_elk]

Um, the headlight?

[2LV8ETR]

easily overloaded tho

say u wire in power from the ciggie lighter

then plug a GPS into the ciggie lighter can cause it to overload and blow the fuse.

They're on two different circuits. The lighter power and light power sources are different.

I had a guy come to me wanting me to wire in 8 gauges (yes 8) in his car. What I had to do was use relays to power both sides and use the spare in his fuse box for overload.

If you're only running the one gauge you'll be okay to pick it up from the lighter light circuit, even better if you used LED's to keep the current draw down.

[89CAL]

+1 for cigerette lighter. the light uses a serperate power feed but the same earth as the power for the lighter itself.

mines been running off there faultlessly for near a year. Using an LED in my boost gauge but

[Rekin]

Link it off the ring around the cig lighter. That turns on with headlights

Its the top connector in the picture below;

Instructions on how to get to it is here;

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/R3...em-t204874.html

[Moodles2]

I'm also trying to find wire clips (that let you tap into power from an existing wire), but can't for the life of me find them on the Jaycar website, are they called something else?

[2LV8ETR]

I'm also trying to find wire clips (that let you tap into power from an existing wire), but can't for the life of me find them on the Jaycar website, are they called something else?

Scotch lock quick splice connectors. You can also use T-taps.

Should have mentioned. Go to any car parts mob like Malz, or Stupid Cheap. You'll have a better chance of finding them there than at Jaycar who are more electronics oriented.

[blind_elk]

I'm also trying to find wire clips (that let you tap into power from an existing wire), but can't for the life of me find them on the Jaycar website, are they called something else?

Dick Smith have some that wrap around the source wire, and provide a spade connection for the branching wire.

[blind_elk]

Link it off the ring around the cig lighter. That turns on with headlights

But it also turns on with the parking lights!

[2LV8ETR]

Dick Smith have some that wrap around the source wire, and provide a spade connection for the branching wire.

These are T-Taps.

[br3ndan]

o cheers for the info

my friend must of linked it to the wires going to the actual ciggie lighter .. not the circle light around it.

so if i link a boost gauge to that wire it will dim it self at night?

[Moodles2]

o cheers for the info

my friend must of linked it to the wires going to the actual ciggie lighter .. not the circle light around it.

so if i link a boost gauge to that wire it will dim it self at night?

If you use the cigarette light, it will be full brightness at night, and not light at all during the day. Though if you lightsource the climate control uses, it will be full brightness during the day and dim at night (that's if the light will work on the dim voltage whatever it be)

[br3ndan]

so if thats the case i would connect the purple dimmer wire on the guage to the climate control and the red power wire to the ign wire or something similar?

[Moodles2]

so if thats the case i would connect the purple dimmer wire on the guage to the climate control and the red power wire to the ign wire or something similar?

Now that I think about it, putting the dimmer wire on the climate control is a bad idea, since you would need the climate control always turned on.. I didn't think about that consequence since my CC is always on. Stock headunits have a dimmer function iirc, if you have a aftermarket headunit just look for a wire not connected (im guessing nobody keeps the dimming function with A/M decks)

[89CAL]

you dont need the light to be on during the day?

just go straight to the cig lighter light. Easiest and most effective. Dont worry about diming and stufff. If your that worried put a variable resistor in the circuit somewhere....