Adding electrical extras to a r1200gs - Battery strengh ?

[advancedbiker]

I have just been to Williams Manchester for a 6000 service with my 2008 R1200 gs. They also did the annual service and the factory recall, £190.84...Not bad, but how can they charge that much for oil. (Another sorry -Already covered in other posts).
When I got it back the mechanic said tha the computer check had picked up a potential problem with the battery. No enough power going in to keep it at optimum capacity. He suggested I was running to many accessories and it showed when there was not enough umph when starting up. I know when I bought it in January it ran out of electric after a week in the garage so I put it onto Optimate. I thought no problems.
I run a Zumo 550 sat nav, Autocom and 3 bullet cameras (run off 9 volt regulator). I do not think that is too much, especially when I see BM's with all spot lights a blaze...
Is the battery on its way out or is the computer being a little over reactive.
Any advice greatly appreciated as the mechanic mentioned a new battery (odessey) and perhaps HID lights tocut down on the wattage.

Help

Regards

Nigel

 

[cookie]

IIRC the GS has a 700W alternator. more than big enough to power your accessories.

i don't see that being your problem.

 

[Greg Masters]

Your spanner man is either trying to con you into buying a new battery or he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Greg

 

[shugie]

Those accessories will take a minimal amount of power, if there's not enough power to keep the battery charged the alternator/regulator is not doing its job properly. Anyone checked the condition of the alternator belt during a service?

 

[wilbjr21]

Your spanner man is either trying to con you into buying a new battery or he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Greg

+ 1

 

[Wapping]

The alternator kicks out plenty of juice (or it should do). But, what your spannerman may be saying is something else, perhaps.

As you have cameras and other gizmos wired directly to the battery, do they stay live while the ignition is off? If so, even their steady low draw will flatten the battery.

Whilst most peripherals (chargers, Ipods, GPS, radios, Autocom etc.) draw minimal current, the bikes you see festooned with lights run the supply via a relay and have it switched via the ignition. That way the alternator does all the work and there is little to no danger of blowing fuses, tripping the Canbus or flattening the battery.

I am not a great fan of running lots of devices (however small their draw) straight to a battery. A simple distribution board coupled to a relay is simple to make and often easier to plug items in and out. The 1200GS's aux. sockets make it simple and safe to tap into a clean supply, too.

See the 'Switched power the easy way' sticky. They are quite fun to make (or you can buy them ready to fit with a relay pre-installed) and you learn a bit about the black art

Now.... does anyone know why my HID spots seem to work on the odd occasion only? ..... having checked everything else, I now suspect the ballasts

 

[MattW]

Once you've flattened a lead acid battery, you've irredeemably reduced its capacity. No fancy charger will recover this lost capacity - once it's gone, it's gone forever. You can often get away with this reduced capacity with no ill effects until the battery is otherwise challenged (lot's of short journeys which don't give the alternator chance to replenish the starting loads, cold weather, the previous in combination with lots of accessories, etc).

If I was you, I'd ignore the BMW tech until you get a problem (he's clearly speaking out of his arse regarding your accessories being the problem). However, you should reconcile yourself to getting a new battery in the not too distant future (this winter probably). Then when you've got one, don't flatten it. Ever.

 

[Greg Masters]

....a new battery ..... when you've got one, don't flatten it. Ever.

And that's really good advice.

The key to long and effective battery life is to keep it fully charged at every possible opportunity.

I'm always bemused by people who turn off their bikes with the engine kill switch and then leave it for several minutes with the ignition and lights on. It's a battery killer.

Use an Optimate at every opportunity.

Greg

 

[Wapping]

And that's really good advice.

The key to long and effective battery life is to keep it fully charged at every possible opportunity.

I'm always bemused by people who turn off their bikes with the engine kill switch and then leave it for several minutes with the ignition and lights on. It's a battery killer.

Use an Optimate at every opportunity.

Greg

Ditto....

Though TBGT will kill us

 

[cookie]

I'm always bemused by people who turn off their bikes with the engine kill switch and then leave it for several minutes with the ignition and lights on. It's a battery killer.

a pretty pointless act, i agree, but running your lights and ignition on the battery alone for a few minutes is not going to kill your battery.

 

[JJH]

o yes it will JJH

 

[Brian ROSEN]

Battery drain

I have very little trouble with batteries - I would never fit an alarm to a bike and nor would I use hazard warning lights except in a real emergency - and then only until the vehicle behind me puts his own on.
If I don't use the bike for a week or more I leave it on the Optimate. I suspect that the heated grips consume a fair amount of current - so I don't use mine unless really necessary. I personally would not takle much notice of a mechanic's remark about 'potential problems.' I

 

[alistairl]

Ok, cat amongst pigeons time, we've got all of these comments about not using various devices as they drain current.

So am I wrong to think that the alternator (or at least above certain revs) will supply power for a whole pile of stuff, as well as charging the battery?

So if the engine is running, why decide not to use the heated grips etc ?

 

[cookie]

o yes it will JJH

well, it might kill yours, but all mine are fine.

just how much amps draw, and for how long do you think it's going to take to "kill the battery"?

 

[Greg Masters]

So am I wrong to think that the alternator (or at least above certain revs) will supply power for a whole pile of stuff, as well as charging the battery?

No - the alternator will cope with most loads tossers are likely to apply.

So if the engine is running, why decide not to use the heated grips etc ?

I don't know - they don't consume huge power - maybe around 40-50w when full on.

Greg

 

[MattW]

Ok, cat amongst pigeons time, we've got all of these comments about not using various devices as they drain current.

So am I wrong to think that the alternator (or at least above certain revs) will supply power for a whole pile of stuff, as well as charging the battery?

So if the engine is running, why decide not to use the heated grips etc ?

You're quite right - the alternator will provide more than enough current for any reasonable amount of accessories when the engine is running. It's leaving stuff on when it's not running that is more of a problem.

More load on the alternator also increases the time taken to recharge after starting (which takes a big whack out of the battery) - can be an issue on short trips.

 

[Greg Masters]

just how much amps draw, and for how long do you think it's going to take to "kill the battery"?

It's a 'death by a thousand cuts' thing. Every moment the battery is not fully charged, the plates sulphate. The more deeply discharged the battery is, the more the sulphation occurs.

The sulphation isn't all reversable.

Greg

 

[cookie]

It's a 'death by a thousand cuts' thing. Every moment the battery is not fully charged, the plates sulphate. The more deeply discharged the battery is, the more the sulphation occurs.

The sulphation isn't all reversable.

Greg

i've never found it an issue in practice, over a reasonable length of time.

 

[Womble]

If the alternator output isn't high enough to cope with the farkles, then running accessories will still drain the battery as the bike is running, just not quite as quickly because the alternator will be contributing to the running of the farkles, but just not enough.

If you ordered your bike with heated grips as standard, the alternator will still be able to charge the battery if it was fitted from manufacture (on the 1150 ordering heated grips got you a bigger alternator, not sure about 1200s), so Brian's heated grips shouldn't be a problem at all.

However, servo brakes running at the same time as the headlamps draw a LOT of current and will pull power out of the battery, so the last few minutes of a ride can make all the difference to the life of your battery, particularly if not topped up with an charger afterwards.

Going back to the first post, I'm not sure about the power requirements of a bikecam, but assuming that it's about 1 amp each and allowing for losses in the 9V regulator, it wouldn't be too difficult to see that the cams could draw about 12W each (1A x 12V = 12W), so running several would be in the same territory as running another headlamp on full beam. It's quite a load, but people happily run multiple lamps at night and it's not an issue as long as the engine is running.

The OP's battery may well be running down, but the problem with batteries is that you need to review all of the loads, some of which you may not even be aware of - for instance my Garmin satnav mount draws power, even without the Zumo in it. I found out the hard way that it can kill a battery if left for some time without being on charge. It was wired up that way on purpose, but in hindsight it would be better to run it of a switched feed.

 

[Brian ROSEN]

"...So if the engine is running, why decide not to use the heated grips etc ?..."
Yes, I can see that what I wrote is nonsense and the alternator will easily cope with the heated grips and, of course, they are only working when the engine is running. Of course by not using them I would be doing my bit to saving the planet - but as soon someone will/must find a method of using a mixture of sea water and oil to produce power I am not too concerned.