Rats eating the wiring?

Ed

I don't know if this might be a solution but in my old pickup, which sat up
a lot, some of the dash lights wouldn't work until the truck was driven a
while.

I just assumed that the battery needed to be charged up.

Hope this helps.
I was deployed for a year and my 97 Explorer wasn't driven very much
while I was gone. Now that I'm back the lights behind the insturment
panel and the air conditioner controles don't turn on. I've checked
for damaged wiring or blown fuses and haven't found any. What else
could it be?

Make sure the dimmer switch is not turned down, or possible broken/
sticky/defective.