Electrical Gremlin!!!

[TRX501RYAN]

Well i have a 1995 Ford Ranger Ext Cab Splash 4x4 with a 3.0l, with 282 000 kms or 176250 miles, the latest thing have done to it was purchase an after market cluster insert, some of you may have seen that thread.


Any how i tied this into the dimmer switch on the dash in to the red wire with a black stripe coming out of the dimmer, assuming this was a power wire coming from the dimmer since there was 2 larger wires at the top and 4 smaller at the bottom.

I Hooked the positive from the inverter to that wire, and connected the negative to the Steel insert below the bottom trim plastic, i tied into the wire on the dimmer with a wire tap, placed the inverter underneath the dash, placed the dimmer supplied with the inverter above the fuse box, i just set it there, and then also installed a 10A inline fuse as recommended to avoid surcharging the inverter.


And success it all worked well!



for about 4 days.....


A fuse blew, not sure with fuse # but looking at the panel it would ne a blue 15A fuse 3rd one starting from the left of the panel(controls the dash lights in the cluster as well as hvac lighting, and rear tails, possibly the cruise as well and maybe the trail wires?)

So i figured it may be overloaded... i did get 4-6 hours before this happened, so i pulled the spare 15A fused, turned the dash lights on and it popped soon as power was applied...


So i was stumped... tear the dash apart a week later, and come to find out the dimmer on the inverter box had a power wire broken from it, i figured it was grounding on the case of the dimmer in turn grounding out the circuit popping the fuse, i eliminate the dimmer tie the wires together seal it all up install a new fuse, and it works again, so i decided to install it all, testing the lights once and a while as i go, damn well all together and it pops again, now i am pretty ticked but leave it as it was late.


Get back into last night, completely remove the gauge insert, and all power, undo the tie from the dimmer control, ended up cutting it out and reconnecting the wires with a wire tap. unhooked the cluster, and dimmer switch try a fuse and still pops.... all back to stock and still pop installed... im and no electrician and not great with this stuff and just looking for what to look for that may be causing this circuit to fry like this


Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[RobbieD]

Probably telling you something you already know, but a direct short is causing the fuse to pop. You need to carefully go over the wiring; not only the wire(s) you directly tapped into, but all of the harnesses around the area that you were working in. Especially look at any unused connectors (if present) that may now be touching ground metal. And check for any evidence of previous wiring work; it's possible that you may have disturbed some past work. Aftermarket radio? Might want to consider checking behind it; your work may have pulled on the radio connections, causing a short. Tracing electrical is not too tough; just be patient, be thorough, and good luck.