Bendy toy
Registered user
For about £5 you could wire in a digital voltmeter and velcro it to the dash/tank side panel.
Battery draining
- Thread starter Beemerman59
- Start date
All of the electrical accessories I have added are wired into the fuse box which has 6 switched and 2 unswitched supplies with individual earths. The switched side of the fusebox is connected to a relay triggered by the rear stop lamp. I haven't had time to check the drain yet but I have the technology to do so!
Bendy toy
Registered user
I fitted a voltmeter to mine last year. Total cost was about £10 (it's a bit posh) and really handy to see what's going on when the bike is started or has not been used for a while. Like this but silver http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Micro-Dig...159056?hash=item2a0eb1ca10:g:No8AAOxyOeBR0xXL
These are easier to mount http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12v-24v-V...892838?hash=item35cb870f66:g:Vx0AAOxyjP1R5Ev7
OTT with farkles http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Motor...872805?hash=item25ba07f1e5:g:K5gAAOSwbwlW~3mc
These are easier to mount http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12v-24v-V...892838?hash=item35cb870f66:g:Vx0AAOxyjP1R5Ev7
OTT with farkles http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Motor...872805?hash=item25ba07f1e5:g:K5gAAOSwbwlW~3mc
This one is being a bit elusive to find. I've ruled out all of the accessories I've added via seperate fuseboxes. When the ignition is turned off I'm measuring between 6 and 8 Ma of draw which over the course of 10 minutes has then dropped down to 1 Ma - this is if I can read the scale correctly which is on its lowest setting (the multimeter icon is an upside down/reversed y with a scale of 2000). Interestingly the GS911 is showing an alternator output of 0.6v with ignition on and engine off. There are no faults showing. So the next thing to do will be to whip the tank off and disconnect the alternator to see if that changes things. The battery is losing 0.4 volts over the course of 24 hours from a fully charged state.
Bendy toy
Registered user
The Canbus does not shut down immediately so you will see the current draw reduce over a few minutes from ignition off.
It's normal for a brim filled battery to lose a little voltage over the first few hours. The real test is how much it loses over the next week.
The alternator reading is odd. Check the diode pack is is not developing a back feed.
Thin insulation will leak current, so check the wiring loom for chafing. A common area for problems is alongside the battery.
It's normal for a brim filled battery to lose a little voltage over the first few hours. The real test is how much it loses over the next week.
The alternator reading is odd. Check the diode pack is is not developing a back feed.
Thin insulation will leak current, so check the wiring loom for chafing. A common area for problems is alongside the battery.
If your multimeter is measuring 1ma on a scale of 2000ma I would normally doubt it's accuracy. A discharge rate of 1ma seems pretty neglible for a battery that must be around 11ah. Have you measured the self-discharge time: how long it takes to lose charge when the battery is totally disconnected from everything?
Its undoubtedly me getting the scale wrong. I think its actually 600-800ma draw when the canbus shuts down and then later on its dropped below 100Ma. With the battery totally disconnected it retains its charge fully - its a brand new Odyssey. It's only when connected does it discharge and it will be about 3 days that it's dropped to around 10v and unable to start the bike. This is a recent change with the bike that I've owned for 7 years and would always sit uncharged for about a month and still able to start. I thought originally that it was the battery so bought a new one - I now have two Odysseys to play with.
The GS911 is showing an alternator output of 0.6v with the engine not running - that I don't understand unless its drawing that from the battery which would explain things. I don't know if that's normal with the ignition on? I'll whip the tank off when I get a chance and disconnect that to see if that changes things when the ignition is off.
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but is there anything at all connected to the Canbus power sockets?
If the alternator is not turning then, regardless of the ignition being on or off, I don't see how it can have any volts across the output terminals unless there's a fault with the regulator/rectifier.
Not a stupid question at all - but no, I have swapped out the OEM socket with a powerlet connected to the fusebox. The OEM one lives under the tool tray all nicely wrapped up.
That's my thinking too - when I get half an hour I'll whip the tank off, disconnect the alternator and see if that makes a difference. Somethings draining current because I get a reasonable spark when I reconnect the negative terminal of the battery.
Bendy toy
Registered user
I said that in post 25 with the diode pack comment. 
Check the wiring for chafing as that may well give similar symptoms. It's common alongside the battery and easier to look there than taking the petrol tank off.
Check the wiring for chafing as that may well give similar symptoms. It's common alongside the battery and easier to look there than taking the petrol tank off.
I said that in post 25 with the diode pack comment.
Check the wiring for chafing as that may well give similar symptoms. It's common alongside the battery and easier to look there than taking the petrol tank off.
Actually, it was Packer that got that in first - post #6
As a matter of course I have already checked all the exposed wiring. Tank off will be next when I get time.
Bendy toy
Registered user
D'Oh Sussed again
The fat bundle rammed into that tray alongside the battery is a top place for rubbed wires. My bike was showing signs but not serious. Brother's bike with 1/2 the miles had rubbed right through one wire to the conductors.
I found mine when I looped one of the fat main leads up the back of the petrol tank to the battery contact. Much neater than the odyssey connecting link.
The fat bundle rammed into that tray alongside the battery is a top place for rubbed wires. My bike was showing signs but not serious. Brother's bike with 1/2 the miles had rubbed right through one wire to the conductors.
I found mine when I looped one of the fat main leads up the back of the petrol tank to the battery contact. Much neater than the odyssey connecting link.
FastestGSA
Registered user
I'm coming late into this conversation as I'm trying to learn from you guys.
Firstly I have 2014GSA with additional Touratech LED lights, Sargent heated seat and alarm.
Since having these installed I have had nothing but battery problems, literally get stuck in Croatia as BMW doesn't have a replacement battery in the entire country.
So I did the you tube thing and discovered the term parasitic drain and using my multimeter to locate the problem. I discovered that when I leave the USB adapter in the the power outlet, next to speedo it continues to draw power.
So I have a couple of questions because I plan to do a much bigger trip and I don't want to be faced with these problems on the road. I'm handy but no Machanic!
1. When the bike is turned off, alarm activated and you hear the cambus turn off with a definitive click, isn't it supposed to turn off everything except the alarm? Is the power outlet supposed to stay on? Do I need BMW to check it out or is this normal?
2. What is the actually draw figure with nothing connected supposed to be. When I remove everything and do the test it constantly idols between 30ma - 60ma. It is never constant. The figure remains higher for a minute or so when the bike is first turned off, but I understand this is normal. I know for a fact that my car stays active for 30mins which is one of the reasons they recommend you don't do short runs.
3. Where can I find useful information, i.e where to buy and how to install an alternative fuse box with replay so that i can plum the extras in for piece of mind. They don't appear to be causing a problem yet but if you could see the wires connected to my battery and earth and how confusing it can be!
4. While I'm on the subject of electrics - I have a tether for a trickle charger which I connected to the positive and negative of the battery terminal. When I took the bike into BMW last week I discovered that they had moved the negative to the earth. I have subsequently but it back as the charger didn't seem to show the correct light sequence. Is this correct?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Firstly I have 2014GSA with additional Touratech LED lights, Sargent heated seat and alarm.
Since having these installed I have had nothing but battery problems, literally get stuck in Croatia as BMW doesn't have a replacement battery in the entire country.
So I did the you tube thing and discovered the term parasitic drain and using my multimeter to locate the problem. I discovered that when I leave the USB adapter in the the power outlet, next to speedo it continues to draw power.
So I have a couple of questions because I plan to do a much bigger trip and I don't want to be faced with these problems on the road. I'm handy but no Machanic!
1. When the bike is turned off, alarm activated and you hear the cambus turn off with a definitive click, isn't it supposed to turn off everything except the alarm? Is the power outlet supposed to stay on? Do I need BMW to check it out or is this normal?
2. What is the actually draw figure with nothing connected supposed to be. When I remove everything and do the test it constantly idols between 30ma - 60ma. It is never constant. The figure remains higher for a minute or so when the bike is first turned off, but I understand this is normal. I know for a fact that my car stays active for 30mins which is one of the reasons they recommend you don't do short runs.
3. Where can I find useful information, i.e where to buy and how to install an alternative fuse box with replay so that i can plum the extras in for piece of mind. They don't appear to be causing a problem yet but if you could see the wires connected to my battery and earth and how confusing it can be!
4. While I'm on the subject of electrics - I have a tether for a trickle charger which I connected to the positive and negative of the battery terminal. When I took the bike into BMW last week I discovered that they had moved the negative to the earth. I have subsequently but it back as the charger didn't seem to show the correct light sequence. Is this correct?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Just reviving this thread for an update. Having disconnected the alternator for a few days (pos and neg) the battery is still draining so I'm running out of options I can check now as there's fewer things I can axctually disconnect. Its all a bit weird really as my meter shows a 5 millamp draw when the ignition is turned off but this reduces down to 1 after about 20 minutes or so. After 24 hours its not reading anything but there's still a drain on the battery. The only ground I have been able to find and check is the alternator earth on the top left side of the engine. Battery is a new Odyssey and retains a charge just fine when disconnected.
I did download an updated version of software for my GS911 and noticed something peculiar when going through the menu's. No faults are showing but one of the indicators is showing as being "on" when it most definitely is switched off. All the others show as off. The indicators fitted are not the original bulb filament type as I upgraded them all to LED's. I have also noticed that several of the LED's are not working. I don't see how this could be connected to the battery drain but when I get a moment I'll disconnect them to see. I can also hear a ticking coming from somewhere near the air box when I cycle the ignition on - its ticking is in tune with the indicators when I turn them on but it remains when the indicators are off so I'm guessing its a relay somewhere.
I did download an updated version of software for my GS911 and noticed something peculiar when going through the menu's. No faults are showing but one of the indicators is showing as being "on" when it most definitely is switched off. All the others show as off. The indicators fitted are not the original bulb filament type as I upgraded them all to LED's. I have also noticed that several of the LED's are not working. I don't see how this could be connected to the battery drain but when I get a moment I'll disconnect them to see. I can also hear a ticking coming from somewhere near the air box when I cycle the ignition on - its ticking is in tune with the indicators when I turn them on but it remains when the indicators are off so I'm guessing its a relay somewhere.
Bendy toy
Registered user
AFAIK the turn indicators are driven by the canbus system - there is no actual relay. The hazards may or may not use their own relay, but I suspect they are also canbus driven.
Check the wiring around the battery area. A chafed wire with thin insulation will effectively "leak" and could be intermittent.
Check the wiring around the battery area. A chafed wire with thin insulation will effectively "leak" and could be intermittent.
Not had much time to dig into this deeper until this week. The battery is still draining but I was messing about last night and have changed something on the bike that might point to the problem. To explain first, a long time ago I fitted a separate fuse box powered directly from the battery. This has 2 x unswitched and 6 x switched outputs and in order to have this power up with ignition on, the trigger wire to the relay on the fusebox comes from the front parking light. When I first had this drain issue the first thing I checked was all the accessories connected via the fusebox and then totally disconnecting both power and earth from the battery. Still the battery drains about 0.4 of a volt every 24 hours. I have a GS911 and no fault codes have shown anywhere on the bike.
What I hadn't tried before last night was disconnecting the relay itself from the trigger wire from the front parking lamp. Having done that and reconnecting the battery, when I turned on the ignition, all of a sudden I am getting the lampf failure warning on the dash and no front parking light which I hadn't noticed before. I then connect up the GS911 and all of a sudden the fault code and description of front parking light open circuit is showing on the diagnostics. The fault can't be erased because its still present.
That's how I left it last night and the battery is still being drained, the difference now being that I have the lampf error. As I have run out of other things to check and/or disconnect, I believe this must be tied into the battery drain somehow - but how? I haven't got round to checking the bulb to see if that's blown or if there is a short on the trigger wire but I still don't understand how that could be draining the battery. The only idea I have at present is that for some reason, the open circuit or short is keeping the ECU operating with the ignition off. I remember quite a few instances with 08/09 bikes as mine is where items still drawing current when the ignition is turned off (satnav's etc) have caused battery drains in the past.
Any ideas?
What I hadn't tried before last night was disconnecting the relay itself from the trigger wire from the front parking lamp. Having done that and reconnecting the battery, when I turned on the ignition, all of a sudden I am getting the lampf failure warning on the dash and no front parking light which I hadn't noticed before. I then connect up the GS911 and all of a sudden the fault code and description of front parking light open circuit is showing on the diagnostics. The fault can't be erased because its still present.
That's how I left it last night and the battery is still being drained, the difference now being that I have the lampf error. As I have run out of other things to check and/or disconnect, I believe this must be tied into the battery drain somehow - but how? I haven't got round to checking the bulb to see if that's blown or if there is a short on the trigger wire but I still don't understand how that could be draining the battery. The only idea I have at present is that for some reason, the open circuit or short is keeping the ECU operating with the ignition off. I remember quite a few instances with 08/09 bikes as mine is where items still drawing current when the ignition is turned off (satnav's etc) have caused battery drains in the past.
Any ideas?
Bendy toy
Registered user
It's possible your relay was keeping canbus active.
Fit a new front pilot bulb - LED is ok as long as it's canbus compatible.
Trace the wire where your relay was fitted and check for breaks.
Power the accessory relay from the SatNav connector lead.
Don't leave satnav in its cradle if not being used.
See if that helps.
Fit a new front pilot bulb - LED is ok as long as it's canbus compatible.
Trace the wire where your relay was fitted and check for breaks.
Power the accessory relay from the SatNav connector lead.
Don't leave satnav in its cradle if not being used.
See if that helps.
What is the normal no load, drain of the battery?
Ie fully charged sitting on a bench?? Once you know that, that's your control.
Anything greater than that is the actual drain.
Re click clunks and voltage drops...
when you turn off the bike it shuts power to all circuits that do not need power.
Any circuits that do need power... Alarm immob stay energised and will cause drain.
After a period of inactivity the ECU goes to sleep, the only drain then should be the
Alarm / imob, and any circuits that are perm live, lamps sat nav usb etc.
If your getting a lamp F failure look at that first.
You need to connect each accessory / circuit in turn, to see where your drain is coming from.
Once you have the circuit identified, its the parts on that circuit..
I would disconnect all non necessary stuff and see what your draw is... bearing in mind the battery's normal discharge rate
mart
Ie fully charged sitting on a bench?? Once you know that, that's your control.
Anything greater than that is the actual drain.
Re click clunks and voltage drops...
when you turn off the bike it shuts power to all circuits that do not need power.
Any circuits that do need power... Alarm immob stay energised and will cause drain.
After a period of inactivity the ECU goes to sleep, the only drain then should be the
Alarm / imob, and any circuits that are perm live, lamps sat nav usb etc.
If your getting a lamp F failure look at that first.
You need to connect each accessory / circuit in turn, to see where your drain is coming from.
Once you have the circuit identified, its the parts on that circuit..
I would disconnect all non necessary stuff and see what your draw is... bearing in mind the battery's normal discharge rate
mart
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