Do I need a new battery already?

[wessie]

I don't believe you.

Experience tells me otherwise.

See below, keeping a battery fully charged will protect against cold. I need to put mine onto charge as it is now parked outdoors under cover not in a garage within the house since I moved

Car won't start in the cold? Causes and solutions | RAC Drive | RAC Drive

When the temperature drops, you may experience problems with starting your car. Here are the possible causes and solutions for a car that won't start.

www.rac.co.uk

"Can extreme cold kill a car battery? A fully charged battery will freeze around -57°C, a fully discharged battery will freeze at around 0°C. Your battery probably won't work after thawing out, if it does it will be weaker and won't last as long. It's best to replace a battery that's been frozen"

 

[botus]

chunks of lead sludge falling of the plates is what happens with frost - often the sludge shorts at the base of the plate and its magically dead - turning it over and shaking it can get it started sometimes - but the missing parts of the plates and debris floating about, means its not going to hold much charge

this sludge morphosis - I guess is what happens with multiple winters - they way to stop it being a problem is to lock the sludge in between sheets of glass fiber matting hence AGM batteries

 

[happyjoe]

Can I insert my battery woes here?
Just in Feb 2023, I got a brand new Yuasa at the BMW/Yamaha/Piaggo shop. It was not a cheap one, but at 150USD, I think it is an "OEM" for my R1200 GSA (2018).
I always connect up the BMW Motorrad Charger (white one) to my bike at all times (esp during Winter).
Last few weeks I see the battery "charging at"...say between 10% and sometimes I see 98%..
Yesterday (11 months new) the Charger shows "No Battery" and the bike is TOTALLY dead.
No screen. No lights. No start. Nothing. Black screen.

Besides the obvious "battery is dead", what else could be a problem? Fuse? CANbus?
Any ideas please? Last week we have -8 C in the cold.
BTW, I rode 3 times in 2023. Too little time too many roads.

 

[wessie]

Can I insert my battery woes here?
Just in Feb 2023, I got a brand new Yuasa at the BMW/Yamaha/Piaggo shop. It was not a cheap one, but at 150USD, I think it is an "OEM" for my R1200 GSA (2018).
I always connect up the BMW Motorrad Charger (white one) to my bike at all times (esp during Winter).
Last few weeks I see the battery "charging at"...say between 10% and sometimes I see 98%..
Yesterday (11 months new) the Charger shows "No Battery" and the bike is TOTALLY dead.
No screen. No lights. No start. Nothing. Black screen.

Besides the obvious "battery is dead", what else could be a problem? Fuse? CANbus?
Any ideas please? Last week we have -8 C in the cold.
BTW, I rode 3 times in 2023. Too little time too many roads.

you need to take the battery out of the bike and see if it will charge - this will remove some of the variables you have.

if the battery has totally discharged due to a breakdown in the canbus connection, it will not recover via the canbus. Smart chargers will only enter recovery mode if the battery has no load. Is the BMW charger a smart charger with recovery like an Optimate or just a battery maintainer? If the latter, you need an Optimate, Noco or CTek with recovery mode.

Once you have figured out if the battery is recoverable, do it a favour and ditch the canbus connection if leaving it unused for months. Fit a fly lead direct to the battery.

 

[happyjoe]

you need to take the battery out of the bike and see if it will charge - this will remove some of the variables you have.

if the battery has totally discharged due to a breakdown in the canbus connection, it will not recover via the canbus. Smart chargers will only enter recovery mode if the battery has no load. Is the BMW charger a smart charger with recovery like an Optimate or just a battery maintainer? If the latter, you need an Optimate, Noco or CTek with recovery mode.

Once you have figured out if the battery is recoverable, do it a favour and ditch the canbus connection if leaving it unused for months. Fit a fly lead direct to the battery.

Thank you for your reply.
I have opened the cover (battery still connected to bike/canbus) and crocodile-clip it to the BMW (white) "Smart" charger. It says Battery is deep discharged, press OK to recharge. I pressed OK and it is now recharging. After 10 seconds, it went up to 78% (fake info I believe) and I could turn on the TFT, but it died immediately after turning on.

Do/should I disconnect battery from Bike to do the recharging? Any comments or advise?

===additional info===
Bike was new 2017, original battery lasted til 2023 Feb, then zero /almost zero charge although connected to BMW smart charger at all times. Went to buy new battery thinking 6 yrs is enough, it seems like maybe the Charger or CANbus is acting weird. It certainly does not help if I ride only 3 times a year. Oops.

 

[wessie]

Thank you for your reply.
I have opened the cover (battery still connected to bike/canbus) and crocodile-clip it to the BMW (white) "Smart" charger. It says Battery is deep discharged, press OK to recharge. I pressed OK and it is now recharging. After 10 seconds, it went up to 78% (fake info I believe) and I could turn on the TFT, but it died immediately after turning on.

Do/should I disconnect battery from Bike to do the recharging? Any comments or advise?

===additional info===
Bike was new 2017, original battery lasted til 2023 Feb, then zero /almost zero charge although connected to BMW smart charger at all times. Went to buy new battery thinking 6 yrs is enough, it seems like maybe the Charger or CANbus is acting weird. It certainly does not help if I ride only 3 times a year. Oops.

you will not recover a deep discharged battery whilst the battery is connected to the bike - the charger will sense there is a load on the circuit and will not start recovery mode. This mode uses high voltage pulses to recover the battery. These would damage the bike's electronics hence the smart charger having the protection built in to the algorithm. I thought I had explained this in my first reply.

 

[happyjoe]

you will not recover a deep discharged battery whilst the battery is connected to the bike - the charger will sense there is a load on the circuit and will not start recovery mode. This mode uses high voltage pulses to recover the battery. These would damage the bike's electronics hence the smart charger having the protection built in to the algorithm. I thought I had explained this in my first reply.

Okay I will disconnect and take out the battery.

 

[gazza12adv]

Okay I will disconnect and take out the battery.

I notice you said the bike was new in 2017, so im assuming it's a newer WC version. Maybe someone in the WC section would know more about the later bikes.. it could help to ask there.

 

[notoriusb.e.n]

Sorry to wake this one up again, but it let me down again this morning, wouldn't start after being left a week, which is pathetic and really screwed up my morning - late for work - wound up and stressed about that, rushing to get changed back into "normal" work gear to take the car, bust my toe kicking my bike boots out the way in a temper - don't do that its like kicking a 5lb dumbbell in socks.....

Must be a duff battery, surely - a healthy battery shouldn't go flat in a week if everything is turned off, only fitted accessories are the BMW Navigator mount and a USB charger both of which are off when the ignition is off.

I guess the "cheapest" next test will be to replace the battery. Nippy Normans has got Exide (which I understand to be basically OEM) or Motobatt. Motorworks has those plus oddysey "Lithium" options but they are a lot more expensive. Are the Motobatt worth the extra £20 over the Exide? I think I had Exide on my last bike (Triumph Sprint) and it was OK being left for a few weeks at a time.

 

[Mistacat]

The ecu`s will draw power when the ignition is off as they are not disconnected by the ignition switch.
Check with a multimeter what the parasitic drain is on the battery.
Get the battery load tested before replacing it.

 

[wessie]

I replaced two BMW OE batteries with Exide AGM batteries on a R1200RS and a S1000XR. The XR battery was still working after 3 years when I sold the bike. The RS battery is still happy after 3 winters.

I bought from www.tayna.co.uk - they stock 2 types of Exide, gel or AGM. AGM is cheaper and has more cranking amps. Next day delivery