R1200GS Charging problem

Wapping said:
I have just re-checked, not one word in it about plugging it in or operating it but plenty on the LEDs and their meaning and its ability to revive sulphated batteries Maybe I have been lucky, after all.
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Wapping, the reference to plugging in, and the sequence to operating the charger is in the riders manual for the R1200GS, although, as in my case, that wasn't a success, as i think there is a software problem that affected my bike.
 
Wapping said:
Try switching the charger off and on again at the mains.

Whilst I know that they are totally different chargers, this is something that is mentioned in the Optimate's instruction sheet. The mains power on and off 're-sets' the Optimate charger's 'smart' circuitry. At a guess, your turning the ignition on and off (or off and on) is having the same effect and 're-setting' the BMW charger's circuitry.

Maybe the flicking off at the mains will do the trick with your BMW one? It may help melegsareboney and the others too :nenau
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Tried that but it did not work.The only thing that made a difference was turning the bike ignition on and off again until it started charging(sometimes it takes 20 attempts!!!)It is the bmw charger I have,not optimate
 
gavin@iow said:
I believe there was a software update to allow the official BMW charger to keep the acc socket open after the initial charge, thus allowing the charger to maintain a float charge. Some early bikes had this problem, mine included, although i've not had the update, instead i wired the socket direct to the battery, so avoiding the problem.
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My charger worked fine BEFORE the update which I had in october last year at 800 miles!!!! :(
 
Peter Pan said:
Yep! Sounds like I have, but why should I let BMW off the hook?
They designed it that way - I'm inclined to dig my heels in and ask them to sort it out ......
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Let us know what they find, please.
 
marsellus wallace said:
Tried that but it did not work.The only thing that made a difference was turning the bike ignition on and off again until it started charging(sometimes it takes 20 attempts!!!)It is the bmw charger I have,not optimate
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For all the guys that have the BMW charger, it might pay just to ask your supplying dealer if there is a software upgrade that corrects the charging problem. If that isn't an option, then wiring the socket directly to the battery, or getting 2 croc clips, 2 lengths of suitable wire and a 'free', as in not chassis mounted, socket and plugging the charger in that way, i've tried both ways and the charger works fine. I've had all the problems associated with the charger as mentioned, but decided to go my own route to solve it, i know it's not really acceptable, after buying the charger and finding it didn't work as it should, but that's what i did, hope that helps.
 
gavin@iow said:
For all the guys that have the BMW charger, it might pay just to ask your supplying dealer if there is a software upgrade that corrects the charging problem. If that isn't an option, then wiring the socket directly to the battery, or getting 2 croc clips, 2 lengths of suitable wire and a 'free', as in not chassis mounted, socket and plugging the charger in that way, i've tried both ways and the charger works fine. I've had all the problems associated with the charger as mentioned, but decided to go my own route to solve it, i know it's not really acceptable, after buying the charger and finding it didn't work as it should, but that's what i did, hope that helps.
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My bike had just been returned from my dealer who had just completed applying all the latest software updates!

I spoke to the dealer again today and they've asked me to do the following :
1. Switch on bike ignition and let it go through initialisation sequence
2. Plug in charger and switch it on.
3. wait while charger does it initial bit, then
3. Switch off bikes iginition and wait

They reckon that should keep the line open and allow the battery to charge.
I'll try it when I get home and let you all know the outcome.....
 
Peter Pan said:
My bike had just been returned from my dealer who had just completed applying all the latest software updates!

I spoke to the dealer again today and they've asked me to do the following :
1. Switch on bike ignition and let it go through initialisation sequence
2. Plug in charger and switch it on.
3. wait while charger does it initial bit, then
3. Switch off bikes iginition and wait

They reckon that should keep the line open and allow the battery to charge.
I'll try it when I get home and let you all know the outcome.....
Click to expand...

Nope. Didn't work. Red Error light came on as soon as the electrics shut down. Back to my dealer methinks!
 
Peter Pan said:
Nope. Didn't work. Red Error light came on as soon as the electrics shut down. Back to my dealer methinks!
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Tried it too.Worked after the 9th attempt!!!By the way my charger worked a treat BEFORE the software update!!!
 
marsellus wallace said:
By the way my charger worked a treat BEFORE the software update!!!
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I've been watching this thread with interest. I went through all the original problems with my first (04) GS, bought the charger, and still needed a new battery for everything to work as advertised.

Now my 06 bike doesn't behave properly at all. I've been in and out of the dealer, swopped messages with HQ, and heard many stories of 'what the feck is happening now?' from the BMW engineers.

Like you guys, my charger worked fine before the latest software update, albeit on the previous bike. With the latest software, and on a new bike with a new (and fully tested) battery, I cannot get to the final green light.

BMW UK admit that there are 2 versions of the charger. The original, which I have, is sensitive to increased resistance within the battery caused by low outside temperature. It interprets the resistance as being caused by a low charge, and will make 4 attempts to recycle the charging sequence before giving up and showing the red error light. The newer chargers (somehow) don't have this problem.

It does seem to me that the system is too complicated. Not so much in design as in the practicality of sorting problems. In my opinion, HQ are confused by the problems, the dealers & technicians are struggling, and nobody really knows how the charger is really supposed to behave. I reckon the guy who made the charger has left, and took the secrets with him.

I have given up. I left my bike for 2 weeks in the freezing cold with a not-fully-charged battery, and it started 1st time. So now I don't worry about it. I can always give it a squirt with the Optimate (having disconnected the battery in accordance with the destructions, of course).
 
Peter Pan said:
Hi all. I've got a problem with charging my GS using the special BMW supplied charger that supposedly creates a "spike" when switched on keeping the route to the battery open after the ignitions been switched off.

Whenever I plug my charger in, the power light comes on, followed by the charging light (red, amber or green), however when the bike circuits "power down" after 30 odd seconds, the charging light goes out and the red "error" light on the charger comes on. BMW have conmfirmed the charger is not faulty.

Bike's just had 3 days at my local BMW dealer where they put it through a series of tests, liaised with BMW directly and updated all the software etc. It was returned to me last night and they claimed that it was now sorted with the exception of my getting a brief headlight flash when I turn on the iginition when the batteries fully charged. They (and BMW) had no idea what the cause of the headlight flash was. Fine I thought. I can live with that.

Went for a 170 mile run today, got home, cleaned up the bike, plugged in the charger and hey presto!, back to square one - red error light on charger ....

Has anyone else experienced this problem?
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Hi Dan,
I had this problem too. I took my charger back to the dealer and they confirmed it was not working. However i have since found out i was not using it right either. Here's what i do.
1. Turn on bike and let it go through it's checks.
2. Plug in socket and turn on the power, leave charger and bike to suss what is happening say for 1 minute then turn off bike. It will stay on red for a while but after 5-10 minutes it will start to charge and show you via the lights how much your battery needs charging. This works for me.
Cheers and good luck, Orca. IF it dunt work after this take it back.
 
orca the porker said:
Hi Dan,
I had this problem too. I took my charger back to the dealer and they confirmed it was not working. However i have since found out i was not using it right either. Here's what i do.
1. Turn on bike and let it go through it's checks.
2. Plug in socket and turn on the power, leave charger and bike to suss what is happening say for 1 minute then turn off bike. It will stay on red for a while but after 5-10 minutes it will start to charge and show you via the lights how much your battery needs charging. This works for me.
Cheers and good luck, Orca. IF it dunt work after this take it back.
Click to expand...

Tried all of the above - without success! :(
Having discussed the problem in more detail with my dealer, they suspected that the problem may have something to do with my Starcom system being connected through the ignition rather than directly to the battery as recommended (they fitted the starcom in the first place!).

We agreed I'd take it round to them this morning (Saturday) and they'd re-connect the Starcom directly to the battery. Duly completed.

Got home, went through the the "pre-Charge checklist" (as described above by Orca the Porker and had a red charge light, HOWEVER, as soon as the canbus powered down, the red "charging light" went off to be replaced by the red error light!!!! :tears

That's it! I've had enough! I've since connected an Optimate lead directly to the battery and I've just been out to the garage to see a wonderful GREEN light! :clap

BMW Charger bought at a cost of £75 squid will be returned to my dealer for a full refund on Monday......

Why do BMW have to *loody complicate things so much????
 
Peter Pan said:
Tried all of the above - without success! :(
Having discussed the problem in more detail with my dealer, they suspected that the problem may have something to do with my Starcom system being connected through the ignition rather than directly to the battery as recommended (they fitted the starcom in the first place!).

We agreed I'd take it round to them this morning (Saturday) and they'd re-connect the Starcom directly to the battery. Duly completed.

Got home, went through the the "pre-Charge checklist" (as described above by Orca the Porker and had a red charge light, HOWEVER, as soon as the canbus powered down, the red "charging light" went off to be replaced by the red error light!!!! :tears

That's it! I've had enough! I've since connected an Optimate lead directly to the battery and I've just been out to the garage to see a wonderful GREEN light! :clap

BMW Charger bought at a cost of £75 squid will be returned to my dealer for a full refund on Monday......

Why do BMW have to *loody complicate things so much????
Click to expand...

Can I make a suggestion. The optimate could under certain circumstances (desulphation mode) damage the can bus if the battery is charged with it while still connected to the bike, allegedly! Why not connect the BMW charger (which should not be able to develop such a high voltage to damage the can bus - according to the charger manual 15.5v in desulphation mode ) directly to the battery and see what happens. I'll bet it gives you two green lights after the usual delay.
This is how I'm charging mine at the moment and it works fine, without any of this ignition on / off bollocks. I'm thinking of fitting another BMW style socket directly to the battery , with an in line fuse, for this reason and the availability of power when the can has powered the original one off.
 
Cestria said:
Can I make a suggestion. The optimate could under certain circumstances (desulphation mode) damage the can bus if the battery is charged with it while still connected to the bike, allegedly! Why not connect the BMW charger (which should not be able to develop such a high voltage to damage the can bus - according to the charger manual 15.5v in desulphation mode ) directly to the battery and see what happens. I'll bet it gives you two green lights after the usual delay.
This is how I'm charging mine at the moment and it works fine, without any of this ignition on / off bollocks. I'm thinking of fitting another BMW style socket directly to the battery , with an in line fuse, for this reason and the availability of power when the can has powered the original one off.
Click to expand...

Interesting idea. I'd geared myself up to getting a refund too!

I was unaware that the optimate could under certain circumstances (desulphation mode) damage the can bus if the battery is charged with it while still connected to the bike. Has anyone actually experienced this problem?
 
Well, its been done to death on here so do a search using 1200GS, optimate, chargers etc and see what you come up with, settle back and have a good read. Opinions vary, along with the advice given by BMW dealers about charging 1200 batteries.
 
Peter Pan said:
I was unaware that the optimate could under certain circumstances (desulphation mode) damage the can bus if the battery is charged with it while still connected to the bike. Has anyone actually experienced this problem?
Click to expand...
I've heard of this problem/feature. It was one of the reasons that I bought the BMW charger, together with a report from the bike's computer when put on the diagnostic machine at the first service that the battery wasn't fully charged (I have a short ride to work, you have tried it vicariously). The expensive charger has worked OK on both my R12 and R11, although one day it gave an error on the R12.

Before the BMW charger became available, my dealer said there'd be no problem using the Optimate if you disconnect the battery from the bike. That's a pain, not only is it tedious but you also lose the clock and trip readings.

As to connecting the BMW charger direct across the battery: should be OK, I guess but I'd be cheesed off paying so much for the facility to charge the bike through the accessory socket and being unable to do so through some evasive fault of the bike or the charger.
 
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 :)
 
Optimate: flying lead: no problems and no inconvenience.

Simple.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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