[sorphin]

ok, so i hook it up (and i'm not a noob at this mind you), and everything's wired up clean, soldered, etc.. except...

If i dim the dash lights, the illumination on the radio goes nuts (constant random toggling between dim and bright) which i can understand in a way, cuz there's only bright and dim on the radio... the PROBLEM comes in.. even w/ the dash lights at full brightness, i'll still randomly get a bright/dim toggle on the radio (and i didn't get this in my old car).. it's possible i suppose that i may need to check the solder joint on the illumination wire, but wanted to check too to see if anyone else had any possible idea/solution (if that's not the prob)

Thanks,
-sorphin

[Bonnie Scotland]

I noticed no one had replied yet, it's not exactly my specialty subject but how about the current going through the wire, if the solder ain't quite right could the voltage drop accross the solder cause a problem??

Post back when sorted

Bonnie Scotland

[SteveM3]

There are two types of connection on HU's. One is a constantly varying
and one is a simple on off as far as lights go. Sounds like yours is the
latter so don't connect from the cars dimmer connect to a wire that is
hot when the lights are on. Some HU's like Blaupunkt have both types
of connectors so do double check your wiring instructions in case you
have both.

[wmd]

I haven't heard of ECLIPSE radio and the only one I found when I searched was this one:

I think you need to get a more modern radio

The MINI uses digital control (pulse width modulation) for powering its variable lighting. So the illumination is either full on or full off (at around 400 HZ), and you vary the intensity by changing the duty cycle with the dashboard button. So I don't think it's anything you did wrong or have any control of. The radio illumination circuit is probably not compatible with the MINI PWM driver circuit. You could call the radio mfgr tech line, if they have one, and ask them about the circuit power requirements. Since you said the radio had its own dimmer control, something in that circuit is probably slowing down the varying voltage pulses from the MINI driver circuit from 400 HZ to 20HZ which you then can notice. Or you might consider hooking up the radio to unregulated voltage and use the radio dimmer independently.

[mikeythemini]

As wmd says it is not a connection problem, but the way the Mini dash illumination works. You could tap into a sidelight feed in the kickwell

[sorphin]

har har wmd, but thanks wmd and mike, that's prolly what i'll have to do..

fyi, it's Eclipse by Fujitsu Ten (semi high end)

thanks
-sorphin

Quote: Originally Posted by wmd

I haven't heard of ECLIPSE radio and the only one I found when I searched was this one:

I think you need to get a more modern radio

The MINI uses digital control (pulse width modulation) for powering its variable lighting. So the illumination is either full on or full off (at around 400 HZ), and you vary the intensity by changing the duty cycle with the dashboard button. So I don't think it's anything you did wrong or have any control of. The radio illumination circuit is probably not compatible with the MINI PWM driver circuit. You could call the radio mfgr tech line, if they have one, and ask them about the circuit power requirements. Since you said the radio had its own dimmer control, something in that circuit is probably slowing down the varying voltage pulses from the MINI driver circuit from 400 HZ to 20HZ which you then can notice. Or you might consider hooking up the radio to unregulated voltage and use the radio dimmer independently.

[choock]

Yes, I've had the same problem with the installation on my Alpine Navigation unit.

The company who installed the system, have figured out during discussions with Alpine themselves that the Mini/BMW dashboard dimming system is different and not fully compatible with after market stereo systems dimming functions. The voltage provided by the Mini/BMW wiring is about only 1volt in comparison to that required by the Alpine and other units.

This company has found similar installations problems with other units and BMW cars in general. So its best to leave the dimming wire 'unwired' with the head unit. Mine otherwise did the same thing when the lights were turned on (the lights in the head unit went mad).

Otherwise the Alpine (INA-033R) navigation DIN size unit is FANTASTIC and wired up to the MFSW. The navigation is excellent. The sound is excellent and I can fully recommend the unit for discrete but fully functional navigation and ICE.

Cheers all.

[AmRov]

BTW -- Other than the dimming issue, how have you enjoyed your new Eclipse system? I just found out that my hubby is having an Eclipse CD8443 installed for my birthday, along with all new speakers (Alpine) and amp. Major install, major surgery -- along with sound dampening, etc.

I had never heard of Eclipse, but hubby is an electronics expert with Golden Ears, and he was "very impressed" with this system. Get the car back tomorrow....

[sorphin]

I still like my eclipse.. (people never seem to hear of eclipse, kinda funny), cuz eclipse is kinda high end.. might be why people never hear of it they're used to Pioneer, etc which are everywhere... anyways, i think you'll like it..

Quote: Originally Posted by AmRov

BTW -- Other than the dimming issue, how have you enjoyed your new Eclipse system? I just found out that my hubby is having an Eclipse CD8443 installed for my birthday, along with all new speakers (Alpine) and amp. Major install, major surgery -- along with sound dampening, etc.

I had never heard of Eclipse, but hubby is an electronics expert with Golden Ears, and he was "very impressed" with this system. Get the car back tomorrow....

[snid]

So, what was (is) the solution? I just had an Eclipse head unit installed. The shop wired it up, and sure enough, the illumination blinks if the dash lights are anything but full bright. So, thinking that there were different connections for "lights on" and "dimmer", I had them disconnect the illumination lead. So, no lights. grrr... I reconnected the illumination wire myself for now. With full bright dash lights, the head unit doesn't blink enough for me to notice, I hope. But, since I like to dim the dash lights, I'll need a better solution. Where do I find a wire to tap into that will provide the right signal to make the head unit happy?

When Mikey says

Quote:

You could tap into a sidelight feed in the kickwell

he means the feed for the outside of the car sidelights, and that feed just happens to run near the kickwell, right? The lights inside in the kickwell only go on when the car door is open.

Should I hold the audio shop hostage to do this work, or do it myself? If I know what wire to tap into, and it's fairly easy to get at and hide the wire I'll be adding, I can handle it myself.

[GadgetGav]

If there are indeed two wires, didn't you disconnect the wrong one..? You would want the 'illumination' one connected, but the 'dimmer' one disconnected. The HU lights would always be on full regardless of the dash setting, but that's probably better than never on. The HU is low enough that it wouldn't be distracting if it was on full at night isn't it..?
(either that, or get Ian to come up with a dimmer conversion circuit..! )

[snid]

Quote: Originally Posted by GadgetGav

If there are indeed two wires, didn't you disconnect the wrong one..? You would want the 'illumination' one connected, but the 'dimmer' one disconnected. The HU lights would always be on full regardless of the dash setting, but that's probably better than never on. The HU is low enough that it wouldn't be distracting if it was on full at night isn't it..?
(either that, or get Ian to come up with a dimmer conversion circuit..! )

I Just double checked the manual. There's one lead labeled "illumination: to headlight switch". The thought of 2 leads was misinformation I had stuck in my head from reading this thread. There's only one lead. I don't know if the head unit lights are supposed to be dimmable or not. In any case, the "pulsing" of the MINI dash illumination wire doesn't play nicely with the Eclipse.

[GBMINI]

There will be wires around the BC1 (passenger footwell) which drive the exterior lights and so do not pulse.
Or, we could probably make a diode/cap filter to wire inline between the pulsing dim signal and the head unit. Or you could just connect the wire so that the backlight is always on at full brightness.

[snid]

Quote: Originally Posted by GBMINI

Or, we could probably make a diode/cap filter to wire inline between the pulsing dim signal and the head unit.

I wouldn't persue that too far just yet. At least not until someone can put the dash illumination feed on a multimeter or o-scope or something to see just what it is.

I'm gonna see how evil it would be to find an appropriate wire near the BC1. If that looks to be too much work, I'll probably just wire it to something that's always hot. My toolbox is slightly limited in terms of meters. I've only got a cheap auto voltage tester thing that either lights up or doesn't. Not enough resolution to really know what's going on. It shows the wire that is giving me problems as on/off appropriately.

I'd guess you (Ian) and Gavin have better meters than I do, though.

[GadgetGav]

I think Ian's got the best toybox, I mean toolbox!

[jwardell]

Yeah I was going to say a capacitor can smooth out the signal, but if it expecting 12v and only getting 1v you'll need something more complex. Well probably just a transistor circuit, but it is beyond my A.M. brain capacity at the moment.

[snid]

Well, I made a half-hearted attempt at locating the right wire down in the passenger's footwell. But, I gave up really quick. Never even spotted a wire at all.

So, for now, I've just tapped into the ACC Power wire that was already nice and handy in the head unit wiring harness. We'll so how long it takes me to get annoyed knowing that the buttons are lit up red during the day even though I cannot see them glowing red.

[GBMINI]

This is what you need to find, Jason:


Not easy to find - and not easy to access the individual wires when you find it!

[sorphin]

The FIX was what's called an integrator, the the non-EE savvy, that's a diode and a cap, works just find (assuming your solder joints are good, the 1st attempt failed, the 2nd one works perfect)... there was NO need for running wires elsewhere... just a 10uF cap and a 1N4001 diode, simple as that.

Quote: Originally Posted by snid

So, what was (is) the solution? I just had an Eclipse head unit installed. The shop wired it up, and sure enough, the illumination blinks if the dash lights are anything but full bright. So, thinking that there were different connections for "lights on" and "dimmer", I had them disconnect the illumination lead. So, no lights. grrr... I reconnected the illumination wire myself for now. With full bright dash lights, the head unit doesn't blink enough for me to notice, I hope. But, since I like to dim the dash lights, I'll need a better solution. Where do I find a wire to tap into that will provide the right signal to make the head unit happy?

When Mikey says
he means the feed for the outside of the car sidelights, and that feed just happens to run near the kickwell, right? The lights inside in the kickwell only go on when the car door is open.

Should I hold the audio shop hostage to do this work, or do it myself? If I know what wire to tap into, and it's fairly easy to get at and hide the wire I'll be adding, I can handle it myself.