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Electrical
With all the electrical accessories that people are putting on their Generals -- from winches and light bars to heated seats and sound systems -- many riders are struggling to keep all this stuff powered. Most big-draw items and accessories are run directly to the battery, but at some point, an electrical system powered by a single battery just can’t keep up. If you want enough electric juice in your General to power, say, three 1800-watt amps, four light bars, a 5,000 lb winch, enough interior lighting to decorate a Christmas tree, and two variable speed fans that blow on you out from a modified aftermarket roof, your best bet is to use two deep cycle optima batteries and recharge one (if not both) about every two rides. While you can custom fab a box or support bracket to fit two batteries in the battery compartment of your General, there’s also plenty of room under the seat for a second battery. Just wire them in the basic parallel setup, throw on a battery isolator kit for good measure, and you’re good to go.
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In addition to a dual battery electric system, running a Power Distribution Center (PDC) in your General can also help the electric system perform as it should regardless of the withdrawal demand. PDCs provide many benefits. For one, they make sure that all your accessories are fused and relayed at a switch with the PDC being separately fused from the electronics of the vehicle, creating its own circuit. This makes it not only cleaner and easier to install new accessories, but also makes the electric system neater, safer, and easier to troubleshoot if an issue arises. The added benefits of running a PDC is that any accessory added will not affect any warranty issues due to your electrical system as they are on their own circuit. You can buy all the parts, switches, and circuitry to wire up your own PDC, but if you don’t know what you are doing, you can buy a preconfigured PDC. These power blocks are IP67 waterproof if done correctly, meaning they can be submerged without issue, and often use self resetting-mini fuses. If you want to build your own PDC for your Polaris General, make sure that the power to the block is controlled by a mechanical circuit breaker with amperage high enough to run the box at max power -- as a 200-amp manual 12v breaker ran after the battery inline with the PDC. This not only adds an additional layer of protection but also doubles as a way to disconnect power to PDC if needed in a pinch. If you want to set up a dual-battery system and/or Power Distribution Center on your Polaris General, give us a call or send us an email and we’ll walk you through the process!