Thread: Alpine deck too bright, help!

Originally Posted by babazoid

Hey all, I just installed a new Alpine deck for my carputer setup ... it's got a Aux in that I'm using for my computer audio.

I've owned Alpine in the past and always been happy. I didn't realize how friggin' bright the deck would be in the dark, it looked great in the store.

It's a 9827 with blue backlighting on the buttons that doesn't seem to turn down enough when I turn on the lights. It even has an illumination lead that I've hooked into my factory "lights on" indication wire -- but it HARDLY dims the friggen thing at all.

I'm at a loss, it's so distracting when I'm driving at night. Anyone dealt with this? I figure that maybe the "lights-on" lead isn't working properly, or maybe that I can vary the brightness depending on how much voltage I input.

I've searched around forever for an answer, if you can help I'd appreciate it!

thanks
Mark

you should be able to adjust the brightness via a setting on the deck, have you checked your manual? If your car's stock HU doesn't dim when your lights are on than chances are your aftermarket deck will not do so either.

Originally Posted by sfay93

The wire you want to hook to is not your headlight wire.It is the dimmer wire. It will dimm your HU by reducing voltage. The one you are hooked to now makes the deck think you have your dash lights on full bright.

No, it's not hooked into my headlight wire. It's actually hooked into a wire that the factory deck used for "lights-on" dimming. I have an Acura 1.6EL (model only available in Canada), basically a Honda Civic though. It must be done through voltage I guess...

Looking at the service manual, the ony lead related to lights that is fed to the stereo is the "Lights-on" lead. It was hooked into my factory deck, and when I used the dimmer on my dash the deck would dim with the rest of the dash -- so I figured that it was the correct lead.

I'll have to take out the multimeter I guess. Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it.

And to the person asking about capability to dimm: no the deck has no dim/brightness features built in (save fully turning off the display, but that doesn't fix the bright blue buttons). I've searched high and low, read the manual, website, etc... it's not available--so it must be through this one wire...

Mark

Some cars have a reverse polarity problem with the dimmer. Dont ask me for more details; this is all I can remember (been 10 years since I had a foreign car). My friends Honda he has right now does this, and my old Datsun 280z had the same thing. In his case as in mine, he just lives with it

As I know this is a common problem, I am willing to bet money that there are solutions out there somewhere. I would check with a good car audio shop by telephone for input, or maybe even (egads am I actually saying this?!) a local Acura dealership.

Originally Posted by slushieken

Some cars have a reverse polarity problem with the dimmer. Dont ask me for more details; this is all I can remember (been 10 years since I had a foreign car). My friends Honda he has right now does this, and my old Datsun 280z had the same thing. In his case as in mine, he just lives with it

As I know this is a common problem, I am willing to bet money that there are solutions out there somewhere. I would check with a good car audio shop by telephone for input, or maybe even (egads am I actually saying this?!) a local Acura dealership.

Thanks I really appreciate the insight. I'm still working on the problem... I haven't had a chance to check it out with a multimeter yet. I'll post if I find the answer.

Thanks again
Mark

I'd try to get in touch with someone from Alpine, or check out some Alpine message boards... I'm sure there's some out there.

Your main goal is to find out what kind of input that wire wants... and Alpine should be able to tell you something like that.