gauges work only when revving

Whats up gentlemen, i just did a swap in my 95 civic. I already had the Big 3 upgraded, i have an optima yellow top deep cycle battery. & i just upgraded my alternator to 160A. Now in my car, every time i put the hand brake down, my gauges on my cluster turn on. as soon as i did my swap, i noticed that once the hand brake is down the gauge is not lit. But as soon as i rev the motor, they come on and stay on. I also notice the lights on the dash become a bit brighter.. anyone have any idea what this could be? any help would be greatly appreciated ! Thank you!

Your new alternator might not put out much at idle. That brand is your new alternator?

The brand is Load Boss i bought it off ebay when i bought it, it was a 4 pin configuration made for the US motor, but here in Canada our configuration is a 3 pin. So i had to get a regulator and change it to 3 pin. Could that have effected it?

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm maybe i should just wire the gauges directly to the chassis instead of my hand brake? .. but it doesn't make sense b/c once my hand brake is down its supposed to be grounded.. it always has been.. and now it when i put it down, it seems like its only grounded when i rev the engine? any ideas guys?

Ground them to chassis or -ve supply - not the handbrake. Handbrakes are often a switch to ground - the handbrake light is grounded when the handbrake on on.

funny enough boys i checked the voltage today on the battery it was reading 10VOLTS!!!! i turned on my head lights the voltage DROPPED to 9.25V!!! AND THEY STARTED TO FLICKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im wized, i did all that work for nothing does anyone know someone in Toronto Canada who can rebuild alternators? BUT im gonna see if its the regulator that is causing this issue b/c it was changed from a 4 pin to a 3 pin.

i also should have mentioned that my lights started to flicker and DIM! until i revved the motor!!! then they all came on WOW.

In other words you alternator is fine. Your battery is dead. It's not quite that simple - it could be both, or the other.... But in comparison, both my and my mum's 20 year old 60A-80A alternators provide 14.4V (at the battery) at idle. Mum's even does it with high-beams on (over 280W).

my battery is fine hmmm i think it could be a grounding issue ill check and post back boys

If your battery is 10V, it isn't fine. But if your voltage was measure elsewhere.... yes, you may have a connection issue...