Questions on Speedhut Gauge Install

[Sonic04GT]

Well I began to mess around with the Speedhut gauges today before I lost sunlight and gave up leaving the car like this...
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm142/thealmightyhubbard/IMG_1435.jpg

Initially I planned on running my cluster and the AC panel gauge off of one inverter but they're kind of dim when rigged as such. First off, does this brightness look correct? This is maxxed out, one set plugged in at a time. Any issues running both inverters off the headlight switch so these only come on when I run my headlights? No need to have the AC panel glowing during the day.

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm142/thealmightyhubbard/IMG_1431.jpg
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm142/thealmightyhubbard/IMG_1430.jpg

This is how I currently have it wired.
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm142/thealmightyhubbard/IMG_1436.jpg
I just twisted the red wire around the wire going into the headlight switch and plugged it back in, then ran the ground behind the ODB connection.
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm142/thealmightyhubbard/IMG_1437.jpg

Suitable ground?

Is it normal for the inverter to whine a little bit? It doesn't whine at all when the switch is set to green but when I flip it to blue the gauges get brighter and it starts whining subtly. The green switch position is too dim.

The wire I tapped into provides power when the switch is pulled halfway out (fog lights/amber corners). I'm thinking about going straight into the headlights/low beams since these aren't as bright as I thought they were so I probably won't use illumination while driving with just my amber corners on because it's obviously not too dark out if I'm not using headlights and probably won't be able to see the backlighting anyways.

I tested and got 12.5v from that source.

 

[Niterydr85]

That brightness looks about right where mine are. I've noticed that the a/c panel is a bit more dim than the dash gauges.

Is that the ground for the a/c panel or for the dash gauges? I can't remember what I used to ground the a/c panel, but for the dash gauges there is a bolt in image 1435 in the upper right hand corner of the dash that I used to ground those. Works perfectly.

Yes, I noticed that both of my inverters whine a bit. Once the center console is put back together you wont hear the a/c panel, and with the car running you wont here the dash gauge one. The last time I heard the whine is when I installed them. I tapped right into that thick gray power wire to run the light for the gauges when the parking/fog lights on.

 

[Sonic04GT]

That brightness looks about right where mine are. I've noticed that the a/c panel is a bit more dim than the dash gauges.

Is that the ground for the a/c panel or for the dash gauges? I can't remember what I used to ground the a/c panel, but for the dash gauges there is a bolt in image 1435 in the upper right hand corner of the dash that I used to ground those. Works perfectly.

Yes, I noticed that both of my inverters whine a bit. Once the center console is put back together you wont hear the a/c panel, and with the car running you wont here the dash gauge one. The last time I heard the whine is when I installed them. I tapped right into that thick gray power wire to run the light for the gauges when the parking/fog lights on.

That ground is for the only inverter I had hooked up attempting to run everything off of, but I'll probably run them both to the same points if it's not too difficult. As you can see I have no neat wiring path yet. I just ran everything as conveniently as possible for testing so I gotta re-do it tomorrow.

Whatever wire I tapped into in that pic provides power only when the parking/fog lights are on as well so I'm going to stick with that. It was providing 12.48v or so.

 

[Dragstr05]

Your power/ground locations are fine. Depending on how solid the connection is it may affect the lighting performance.

Did you get the upgraded inverter? I got the upgrade, and it doesnt whine or atleast I dont hear it at all. Speedhut also advertises that the upgraded inverter is able to make the gauges brighter than the standard inverter.

 

[Sonic04GT]

Your power/ground locations are fine. Depending on how solid the connection is it may affect the lighting performance.

Did you get the upgraded inverter? I got the upgrade, and it doesnt whine or atleast I dont hear it at all. Speedhut also advertises that the upgraded inverter is able to make the gauges brighter than the standard inverter.

I just got the regular inverter. Went ahead and assembled everything last night. Kept the same ground down by the ODBII connection and same power connection.

This is how it looks on full brightness.
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm142/thealmightyhubbard/IMG_1540.jpg

I don't really notice the whine while the car is running or while the radio is on of course but while stationary with no music it is a little noticable.

Let me know if you guys found a better ground. I can always move the wire as I have plenty to splice on. I am going to run my second inverter off the same connections once I get my tach fixed (sending it off today).

Picked up a soldering gun so I can just solder the soon to be 2 wires right onto the connector of the brown headlight wire.

Here's a better pic of the ground.
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm142/thealmightyhubbard/0112001727.jpg

I have a brand new inverter I haven't used yet so I may send that back with the tach to have it swapped for an upgraded one. Sounds like the upgraded one may enable me to run everything off that one inverter (gauge cluster and AC panel). I tried it with the standard and it noticably dimmed everything when I tacked the AC panel onto the string of connectors, and I'd rather not run 2 inverters if I can solve this with just the $8 upgrade.