Sorry if I'm being a technical numnut but new LC TE has a hard to get at battery and I'm accustomed to hard wiring the heated jacket and charger direct to the battery. I gleaned (perhaps wrongly) from the manual that there is a positive terminal you can use to the right of the battery and which certainly has a stout red marked cable connected to it. I show them both on the below pic. Is this wrong since they don't seem to work?
Battery connections
- Thread starter sola_bristol
- Start date
I've connected my heated vest to the negative connector & the jump starter fly lead ( the one with the red cable attached in piccy)
Just use torx socket to loosen & attach jacket connector.
Simple job & doesn't even disconnect battery. (fantastic design idea from BMW)
Just use torx socket to loosen & attach jacket connector.
Simple job & doesn't even disconnect battery. (fantastic design idea from BMW)
What's that black round thingy to the right of the battery?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Don't know what I'm doing wrong then cos the connections you can see are mine and they are the charger and the heated vest and neither appear to work which is why I entered the post
Gossy
Registered user
OK, if we are now past the thread hi-jack over questions about the black round thingy in the the picture, let's press on.
From your picture and Snaponphil's reply it seems that you have used the right connection points, being:
(1) The black negative terminal of the battery
(2) The red positive jump starter fly lead
I am not familiar with the 1200 WC, so I assume that:
(a) The jump starter fly lead is permanently live?
(b) The bike has this fly lead only because the positive terminal of the battery is difficult to access?
If these two assumptions are correct and you have only duplicated what Snaponphil did, then there is no logical reason why the battery charger and your heated vest should not work..... So let's look at 3 possible alternatives as to why it might be so:
(1) The bike's battery is dead. If it is, replace it and start again.
(2) That the live end of the jump starter fly lead is not live. I think yours is a secondhand bike? Are you sure that the other end of the stout red cable is connected to the positive terminal of the battery? If it is not connected, it will not work.
It can't be impossible to access the positive terminal of the battery or you wouldn't be able to install or remove the battery. The owners manual should tell you how, though it may require removing some body panels or something similar.
Start by checking that the stout red cable is connected to the battery's positive terminal properly. When you have accessed the battery positive terminal, attach your charger and heated vest jacket to it. Do not forget to re-attach the jump start lead as well. All should now be OK.
(3) If 1 and 2 have both been done OK, and the charger / vest still do not work, then check the two fuses in the leads to the heated vest and to the battery charger. Are they OK?
Once completing steps 1, 2 and 3 it still doesn't work, report back here.
Thanks. That's very thorough and I'd decided to try the volt meter on the connector to see if its permanently live since if its just for the jump start then you'd only do that if the ignition is on. I'll let you know and will check the fuses as well. You can remove the battery but it is not easy by the looks of things.
Great stuff 
Have just tried the voltmeter and that showed a reading of 12.9 with the ignition off so must be permanently live and I think the vest is working from it but it takes a while to warm up and I don't think I was giving it enough time. The jacket certainly works since it operates from the ancillary plug connection. That seemed to be faster somehow but maybe I imagined it.
The CTEK charger is definitely not working however. It remains on standby and doesn't register its connected and the mode button does nothing. There is no fuse on the connection. I connected the voltmeter to the pins on the connection from the battery and it reads live at 12.6. Does the CTEK charger work with this new 1200 battery? It was working fine last week on the Mark 2 1200 that I have now sold which had an Odyssey battery fitted
The CTEK charger is definitely not working however. It remains on standby and doesn't register its connected and the mode button does nothing. There is no fuse on the connection. I connected the voltmeter to the pins on the connection from the battery and it reads live at 12.6. Does the CTEK charger work with this new 1200 battery? It was working fine last week on the Mark 2 1200 that I have now sold which had an Odyssey battery fitted
OK, you have now established:
(1) That the battery is live
(2) That the flying jump start lead is live
(3) That the heated garment works when connected via the positive end of the flying jump start lead and to the negative terminal of the battery
So far, everything good.
So, there is no logical reason why the battery charger shouldn't work, not least as it is effectively connected directly to the battery, the positive feed via the flying jump start lead and the negative directly to the battery post.
When you say 'The battery charger isn't working', how do you know it isn't? At the start of this thread, you thought the heated clothing wasn't working and, lo-and-behold, it is.
Are you sure there is no fuse in the positive line between the end of the jump start lead and the CTek? Most items connected directly to a vehicle's battery will have a fuse somewhere between the battery's positive terminal and the object, in case there is a short. The closer to the battery the fuse is, the better.
(1) That the battery is live
(2) That the flying jump start lead is live
(3) That the heated garment works when connected via the positive end of the flying jump start lead and to the negative terminal of the battery
So far, everything good.
So, there is no logical reason why the battery charger shouldn't work, not least as it is effectively connected directly to the battery, the positive feed via the flying jump start lead and the negative directly to the battery post.
When you say 'The battery charger isn't working', how do you know it isn't? At the start of this thread, you thought the heated clothing wasn't working and, lo-and-behold, it is.
Are you sure there is no fuse in the positive line between the end of the jump start lead and the CTek? Most items connected directly to a vehicle's battery will have a fuse somewhere between the battery's positive terminal and the object, in case there is a short. The closer to the battery the fuse is, the better.
Can you test the output of the charger with your multimeter?
How about connecting the charger to another battery (the car/ride on mower/lear jet for instance) to see it it works?
How about connecting the charger to another battery (the car/ride on mower/lear jet for instance) to see it it works?
DX407
Registered user
You have done the hardest bit by removing the plastic cover, the battery is held in by the rubber and plastic cage, keep it simple and pull the battery out, then connect directly to it, I have in the past found that the optimate type plugs can corrode and can cause the charger to fail, I use ACF50 to help prevent this.
If you are in Bristol I am only 30 mins away if you want a bit of practical help.
boo.
Registered user
All I see is a fire lighter! There should be a fuse in your circuit close to the live terminal so that no part of you wiring could become shorted without protection (fuse). I can see three possible places where this may happen.
So far as I can see (correct me if I am wrong) neither of the red wires are fused close to the energy source (battery) the third place is the poorly positioned, un-insulated terminal close to the frame.
Lastly there is no secondary insulation on any of your wires (sleeving). Leave it as it is and soon it won’t be your heated jacket keeping you warm…
So far as I can see (correct me if I am wrong) neither of the red wires are fused close to the energy source (battery) the third place is the poorly positioned, un-insulated terminal close to the frame.
Lastly there is no secondary insulation on any of your wires (sleeving). Leave it as it is and soon it won’t be your heated jacket keeping you warm…
WindyChuffer
Registered user
Why don't you just remove the battery so you can easily get at both terminals, and wire in what you need as opposed to fannying around with unknown wires?
P140 of your manual explains all.
P140 of your manual explains all.
Why don't you go to the left hand side of the bike and use the axillary terminals ....
Auxiliary terminals on the left, where are these please?
under the identical panel, but on the left hand side instead of the right ....
(I'm sure 'auxiliary' is the wrong term but you get my jist ... there for jump starting and charging I understand ..)
(I'm sure 'auxiliary' is the wrong term but you get my jist ... there for jump starting and charging I understand ..)
Left, when viewed from which direction?
This biking lark is getting increasingly confuddling.
I looked at a 1200 GS WC at Park Lane, Battersea this afternoon. Which numbskull idiot of a designer decided to put the auxiliary dashboard power outlet on the upper offside? Most bods get off their steed to the nearside and motorbiking is a left handed sport. I'll grant you, it's in a marginally better place than the one on the 1600 GT, which also has a second one buried under the seat on the offside. BMW are so embarrassed by the location of the second socket, they don't even bother to mention it in the handbook.... At least not in mine. I only discovered it by chance when grovelling around on the floor of the garage.
This biking lark is getting increasingly confuddling.
I looked at a 1200 GS WC at Park Lane, Battersea this afternoon. Which numbskull idiot of a designer decided to put the auxiliary dashboard power outlet on the upper offside? Most bods get off their steed to the nearside and motorbiking is a left handed sport. I'll grant you, it's in a marginally better place than the one on the 1600 GT, which also has a second one buried under the seat on the offside. BMW are so embarrassed by the location of the second socket, they don't even bother to mention it in the handbook.... At least not in mine. I only discovered it by chance when grovelling around on the floor of the garage.
Similar threads
- Locked
