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I installed a alpine 9855 in my 2003 civic ex....and I think I might of blew a fuse or something....everything works fine until i filp on my headlights....and then the gauges go dim? Any ideas??

 
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turn up the dimmer ****?

 
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hrmmmm well i never had to do that before...where is that excatly...im a newb.....all i do is flick the stick 2 spots and the headlights come on.

 
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well there's a **** on the gauge cluster that you turn and it makes the dash lights brighter/dimmer. Alpine only has an illumination wire to lower brightness of the deck when the lights are on. I hope you didn't connect the DIMMER wire.

 
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well i will try that....but its weird...they are bright as hell when the head lights are off...but as soon as i turn them on...they go about two times less bright..

 
Rep Power: 812

do you have the newer 04-05 cluster with LEDs like this?? Cause they have a dimmer **** that you can adjust for both modes, lights on and lights off.

 
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yep that was it....i dont know what the hell happend with that but i had to knotch it up one time and it was bright again....i didnt even touch that thing today werid....but yea funny story the first time i tried to install it today....i did hook up the wrong orange wire...oh man i blew like 5 fuses haha...but yea thanks man you rock!!

 
Rep Power: 296

if you want it to stay bright for the nite too, you just need to disconnect the illumination wire. I had to do that to mine or else it will always dim when turning the cluster/headlights on. Once you disconnect the wire you can manually dim it in the settings. hope that helps.

 
Rep Power: 812

oh? mine can be full brightness in both modes i just turn the ****. but i like it dim anyway

 
Rep Power: 296

i got a 9835, thats how it worked for me.

 
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I never seen anything like that, even I have the dimmer wire connected and mine works out fine. The dimmer **** has NOTHING to do with aftermarket head unit. The head unit will be less illuminated but still able to see clearly at night. No black out.

If it's about your gauges, check your illumination setting for headlight OFF mode. Turn it all the way clockwise unitl you hear the sound telling you the max. You can NEVER set the headlight ON mode brighter than what you set in OFF mode....