pop up bow light

[DctrHollis]

i just bought a pop up bow light to replace my existing bow light. I had it drop shipped from Malibu, but it didn't come with a template for cutting a new hole screws to secure it, or a wiring schematic.

when I removed the old light there are 2 black wires and the new light has red and black wires. Is it as easy as clipping the original wires and splicing or does the light have to be completely rewired?

Any help would be much appreciated

Edited June 19, 2005 by DctrHollis

[WakeGirl]

We actually did this very mod, but there was black & red under there (as there should be) rather than 2 black wires. One has to be the positive, it's just a matter of determining which is which. Are you sure that one isn't just covered with electrical tape & is actually red underneath? There was a serious mass-gaggle of wires under there that were literally balled together with electrical tape.

Did you get the pop-up or the spinner bow light?

[SunriseH2OSkier]

Shouldn't matter which is which if the light is a regular incandescent (sp?) bulb. The fillament doesn't care which direction the current flows.

But if you really want to know which is which, a voltmeter will do the trick. Connect each wire to the probes on the voltmeter and turn on your switch. If it reads +14V, then the wire connected to the positive probe is the one that should be red; if it reads -14V, then the wire connected to the ground probe is the one that should be red.

[DctrHollis]

I will try the volt meter, Thanks for all your help

[Greg_S]

I really like the bow lights. We used ours on a evening run last week and the only thing to be aware of is when you bend over the bow to hook up your anchor line you will get a belly burn...ouch!

Greg

[Pistol Pete]

Just want to confirm what Jerry says about which wire goes to where. The polarity of the wires (pos. to pos., neg. to neg.) doesn't matter for that 12V DC bulb. Just go ahead and connect one wire to each of the two wires at the new light.