[BuckeyeBacon]

keyed hot - Light Wiring Question

I'm new to the forum, just got a '15 900XP and wanted to say that there is an amazing amount of information on here! I purchased a 12" LED light bar for front and 2 cubes for the rear from Matt @ Light it up off road and a couple of OTRATTW switches. From the many informative posts on here I think I figured out how to wire up the lights...for the most part. I don't have a fuse block so I connected red and black wires directly to the battery and the lights do work. My issue is that I only want them to be able to be turned on when the key is on. As they are right now, they can be turned on anytime. I read about connecting to the "keyed hot"...is that what I need to do so the lights will only work when key is on? If so, where is that my machine?

Thank you in advance for any advice!
KB

 

[newyorker]

take what i say with a grain of salt but under the hood there is a power bar and the connection on the right is keyed hot

 

[BuckeyeBacon]

Thank you newyorker. I have a wire going to right side (drivers side) post under the hood then to the #7 location on the OTRATTW switch. Should I have my red & black wires connected there as opposed to the battery?

 

[fswan]

Thank you newyorker. I have a wire going to right side (drivers side) post under the hood then to the #7 location on the OTRATTW switch. Should I have my red & black wires connected there as opposed to the battery?

Just the red. The power bar Newyorker referred to may or may not be completely wired. If you ordered a Polaris winch or Polaris radio and wired them up according to the instructions or had the dealer install them, then the power bar is probably completely wired (a special harness is included with those options... I think!). If the power bar is wired, there will be three terminals; One will "keyed" power, one (usually the middle) will be ground, and the other one will be "hot" all the time - it's function is to allow options to wired to your machine without loading up the battery terminals and giving a convenient place to tap into the auxiliary power ("keyed"). You can identify which terminal is which by the cables/wire already attached; the "hot" terminal will have a large red cable attached, the ground a black cable, and the keyed terminal 'may' have an orange wire.

In your case, you'll want to connect the red wires from your lights to 'keyed' terminal. The black wires can be connected to the middle terminal, or to a chassis ground, or to the battery like you have them now. I would recommend attaching them to the middle terminal on your power bar (if it's wired!).

Keep in mind that the "keyed" terminal is protected by a 20 amp fuse. Your present lights should be well under that limit but be aware of that limitation as your add more accessories. Once you exceed 20 amps of "keyed" power, you'll have to add a relay and a fuse block or another power bar of some kind.

P.S. Welcome to PRC!

 

[Natethedog]

Hey, welcome to the forum Buckeye. And, you are quite right, there's someone on this forum that has the answer to whatever questions you may have. So, while you're in learning mode, might as well start looking up how to install and wire a fuse block for all the other stuff you will eventually decide you can't live without. A good place to start is in the Ranger Technical forum, under "Electrical Add-ons 101, parts 1 and 2" authored by fswan. Helped me a lot. Then, go to the PRC Forum Help, Rules and Suggestion forum under "Another Tool for Searching PRC". This search engine is much more robust the forum search function, and will get you answers much quicker. Again, welcome, and safe riding!:glee: :encouragement:

 

[HRTKD]

I have a 2013 900 XP with no add-ons from the factory or dealer. My distribution block under the hood is active, but only when the key is on. That's where I sourced power from for my lights which do use a relay.

 

[Otway]

I have a 2013 900 XP with no add-ons from the factory or dealer. My distribution block under the hood is active, but only when the key is on. That's where I sourced power from for my lights which do use a relay.

Guys, first time posting on the forum but have been reading and learning a ton! I have a similar question related to hooking up my light bar using an OTRATTW switch. I am using a purchased wiring harness with relay and fuse and have 3 wires going from the relay to the switch (ground/Power-in/power-out) and (think) I am clear on these 3 wires connecting to #8, #2, and #3 respectively. Since my power to the harness is taken from the keyed-on power terminal under the hood, is there any reason I cannot jumper #2 and #6 on the switch?

Thanks guys

 

[fswan]

Guys, first time posting on the forum but have been reading and learning a ton! I have a similar question related to hooking up my light bar using an OTRATTW switch. I am using a purchased wiring harness with relay and fuse and have 3 wires going from the relay to the switch (ground/Power-in/power-out) and (think) I am clear on these 3 wires connecting to #8, #2, and #3 respectively. Since my power to the harness is taken from the keyed-on power terminal under the hood, is there any reason I cannot jumper #2 and #6 on the switch?

Thanks guys

You probably can, but that will depend on which switch you purchased. The OTRATTW site has 22 different wiring diagrams for their switches. What model # did you get? (8 characters starting with "V", e.g. VIDIJ66B)

 

[Otway]

You probably can, but that will depend on which switch you purchased. The OTRATTW site has 22 different wiring diagrams for their switches. What model # did you get? (8 characters starting with "V", e.g. VIDIJ66B)

Yes, I have the V1C1J771. I thought that since I am already supplying keyed-on power to the switch on #2, this would eliminate the need to run a 4th wire and also save space on my terminal post.

 

[BuckeyeBacon]

Sorry for takign so long to reply...just wanted to say thank you for the help!! It worked perfectly. Hot to right post (drivers side) and the screw to the right of that for ground. Thanks again! :encouragement::biggrin:

 

[fswan]

Yes, I have the V1C1J771. I thought that since I am already supplying keyed-on power to the switch on #2, this would eliminate the need to run a 4th wire and also save space on my terminal post.

Sorry Otway, didn't catch your post. Yes you can jump 2 & 6 - that will should light you bottom light on the switch whenever the key is on (if you jumped 7 & 8 also). If you only want the top light on the switch to come on when the switch is pressed, just skip 7 & 6 altogether.