R1200GS Charging problem

What an interesting thread.

I picked up my new R1200GS yesterday. Had a gentle troll around the Lincolnshire Wolds yesterday, along with my wife on her Honda CBR125 (she's still on L-Plates) and had a great day.

So when I put my bike away, I did what I always do and plugged in the BMW Charger (it's the new one with the LCD display) and had the problems you guys seem to have. I have an Optimate charger as well. That didn't work at all. The BMW charger seemed to be charging even after three hours, with the display showing the four bars flashing up in a progressive sequence.

My trusty 2003 silver R850R can easily be charged using either charger.

I think when the time comes, I'll just disconnect the easily accessible battery and use the crocodile clips.

Thanks, guys, for the reassuring and useful thread.

Jonothan

jonothan said:

plugged in the BMW Charger (it's the new one with the LCD display)
Jonothan

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Exactly which charger is it?, do you have a part no.?

Optimate have written a technical note on the optimate desulphate mode and have confimed that it will not enter desulphate mode *if* connected whilst on the bike, as there will be sufficient current drain on the bike to fool the charger into thinking the battery is accepting charge.

Practically, I've been using the Optimate on the 12GS for 18months without problems.

Mouse said:

On the subject of Optimates...

According to the leaflet that comes with it, the Optimate will only enter desulphation mode if the initial current through the battery is very low. So as long as the "charging" light comes on when you first connect it, I reckon it's perfectly safe to use without disconnecting the battery from the bike.

If the desulphate light comes on, this can be because you have not made a good connection to the battery with the clips. Turn the charger off and remake the connection, and try again.

Of course if the desulphate light comes on consistently, your battery is knackered, and you shoudl disconnect it if you want to try and use the Optimate to recover it. But probably best to get a new battery

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I use a CTEC Multi XS 3600 charger, the instruction says it has a stabile voltage of 14.4 volt in the motorcycle mode. I use it on my 12GS whithout any problems whithout disconnecting the battery.
What do you guys think, is a problem there?

gavin@iow said:

Exactly which charger is it?, do you have a part no.?

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Yes, Gavin.

C80.00.0.611.590

It's not the part number for the charger that is quoted in the R1200GS manual, the one which it is suggested you can use in the auxiliary power socket.

I think this is the "Official BMW" charger that superceded the old one. But I'm not sure.

J