Illumination wire?

[JonJon]

I found a couple OLD threads saying how orange is the illumination wire (and the wire PHYSICALLY is labeled "illumination")... Which is the wire I used on my Kenwood 7019 and now my Alpine iDA-X001... but both do not respond to the dimming of the lights.

I did notice there are also two cables labeled "illumination +" and "illumination -" and I think they were orange/white and orange/black? I'd have to double check to make sure of the colors.

However, I think I am using the right wire, the solid orange that is labeled illumination. Neither head unit responded to the dimming. Am I mixed up? 99 GT.

 

[Supradude26]

No aftermarket radio will respond to the "dimmer". You need to hook up the orange illumination wire to the aftermarket radio, and you may also need to turn the dimmer feature on in the setup menu of your new deck as well. When you turn on your lights, the display and/or buttons should slightly dim. I have also seen on some radios that when you turn the lights on, the buttons of the radio will light up when it is off.

 

[JonJon]

Well that would certainly explain it. However, it didn't seem to do anything on either head unit when I would turn the lights on. I had dimmer enabled on both (The iDA-X001 even has 3 levels of dimming) but nothing happens, lights on or off.

Thanks for the info though, that does help explain some confusion.

 

[Supradude26]

I have a older Alpine CDA-9813 and hooking up the orange wire to the illumination lead on the Alpine makes the display dim when I turn the lights on. Is there a setting for "auto dimming" on your deck?

 

[NEV3R L8]

Where would you hook up the illumination wire to? I've heard it is a light blue/red wire. It needs to be 12v when on then 0v when it is supposed to dim. Has anyone hooked up the illumination wire before and know where I should start looking to find that wire to tap into? Feel free to send a text to my cell I need to know this info ASAP.
-David
239-293-8240