i figured it out. It turns out that i did not have a good connection to a constant 12v. Get a voltage tester and find a good connection for 12v constant and solder it on there.

 

I'm having issues with the illumination. I used the writeup and tapped into the green/white wire of the cigarette lighter, but now the gauges ONLY light up when the lights are turned on, and then they're bright as hell. I can hit the arrows on the control box, but they don't seem to dim or anything. Help??

 

There are two ports on the DEFI control unit that control the signal to the gauges I think they are called METER OUTPUT 1 and METER OUTPUT 2. Your most likely connected into the METER OUTPUT 1. Unplug it and connect it into the OUTPUT 2 port. It should be the port all the way over.
I had the same problem, mine would not dim either, Now they do. It is explaind in the Trouble shooting guide that came with the control unit.
Oh and remember, the control unit runs off of two power supplys. One is a constant supply, and the other is tapped into the power supply that activates when you turn your lights on.

 

I'm going to try that when I get off work here. The other issue is that the gauges seem to come on when in the ACC position. I tapped into the brown wire in the cigarette lighter (going to the lighter part itself). Normally I bet this is ok but I have oil pressure and the alarm just sits there going off cuz the engine isn't running... Any way to get it to power up in the "ON" position rather than ACC?