2000 Dodge Dakota Fuse problem

[Funnynathan22]

I have a 2000 Dodge Dakota and right now I’m having problems with it my gauge lights don’t come on so I can see my speed or anything at night and my fuse for the panel dim which is #5 (5A) keep tripping when I have my head lights on and my dimmer switch all the way up I changed the dimmer switch but it keeps tripping the fuse and it has already started to have the fuse smoke so I don’t ever see anything about this so I don’t know what could be wrong with it.

[NHDave]

When you say dimmer all the way up, do you mean at the brightest dash setting or the indent where it turns the interior/ cargo lamps on?