Battery maintainer for diagnostics

[Victor c]

Hey all

Just getting used to working with my new GS 911 and one thing that stands out, is how quickly the bikes battery drops when it is powered up, but not running (even with a new battery). As a number of the features of the GS 911 require the bikes battery to be above 12.5 volts, does anyone have a solution for maintaining battery voltage whilst it is powered up but not running? Optimate 3 will not do it.
I was thinking something like the Noco Genius 5 charger.

Thanks
Mark

 

[Schtum]

You need an Optimate 4 CANBus model to maintain a connection.

This is the latest whizz-bang model which should even work with the Lithium battery on the new R1300 GS.

https://www.optimate.co.uk/battery-chargers/optimate-4-quad-premium/

 

[wessie]

connect another battery in parallel

if you do not have a spare battery lurking in the garage )I used to keep one charged up to use with the tyre pump) then use jump leads from another bike or car. Just do not run the engine on the car as the alternator will whack too many amps at the bike battery

 

[wessie]

You need an Optimate 4 CANBus model to maintain a connection.

This is the latest whizz-bang model which should even work with the Lithium battery on the new R1300 GS.

https://www.optimate.co.uk/battery-chargers/optimate-4-quad-premium/

I don't think connecting a smart charger to a bike is a good idea when a) the bike is powered up and b) the owner is trying to run diagnostics with a GS911. The smart charger will be running an algorithm that might interfere with the bike and/or diagnostic tool. A properly smart charger will sense the activity and switch itself off.

 

[Victor c]

connect another battery in parallel

if you do not have a spare battery lurking in the garage )I used to keep one charged up to use with the tyre pump) then use jump leads from another bike or car. Just do not run the engine on the car as the alternator will whack too many amps at the bike battery

Great idea. I still have the original BMW battery from the bike, which is showing 75% capacity when charged. That should give a bit more time before the volts drop off too much.

 

[Victor c]

I don't think connecting a smart charger to a bike is a good idea when a) the bike is powered up and b) the owner is trying to run diagnostics with a GS911. The smart charger will be running an algorithm that might interfere with the bike and/or diagnostic tool. A properly smart charger will sense the activity and switch itself off.

That’s what happens with the Optimate 3. It just cuts its charge.

 

[digby]

If you have your bike running there is no problem

I have done diagnostics, heated grips coding and screen coding this way….

 

[wessie]

If you have your bike running there is no problem

I have done diagnostics, heated grips coding and screen coding this way….

might be problematic if you are working indoors in a garage in North Wales during a cold snap and want the door closed.

 

[MartinK]

Just did the d-ESA recalibration using my GS-911, following the suspension's trip to T-Tech (Denz0)

Use my C-Tek connected direct to the battery, it worked spot-on

 

[Victor c]

As Wessie suggested, secondary battery in parallel works just fine. It also helps if you shine a light at the tft to stop the headlight going from drl to headlight and if fitted, turn off aux lights.

 

[b4n241]

A car battery is surely the quicker and cheaper way, many have a spare one in garage, but need to be in good condition to stay over 12,5V. To turn off headlight, disable auto light in bike setup, after this you can turn headlight off with the light button. To have a stable power supply, if you want to work for long time with tft on, you can use the specific function of Ctek CSONE, that can work also as 8A power supply @13,8V. Surely not cheap, but just to let you know.

 

[Bigcats]

connect another battery in parallel

if you do not have a spare battery lurking in the garage )I used to keep one charged up to use with the tyre pump) then use jump leads from another bike or car. Just do not run the engine on the car as the alternator will whack too many amps at the bike battery

Tried this today. Doesn't work as its not the amps thats the issue its the volts

the GS-911 will not function if it sees anything below 12.5volts

Whilst ignition off it happily reads 12.6/7 but once you turn the ignition on, and despite turning all lights off etc, it will drop to 12.4/3 which means the GS-911 will not work

 

[Victor c]

Tried this today. Doesn't work as its not the amps thats the issue its the volts

the GS-911 will not function if it sees anything below 12.5volts

Whilst ignition off it happily reads 12.6/7 but once you turn the ignition on, and despite turning all lights off etc, it will drop to 12.4/3 which means the GS-911 will not work

I used an old battery (still showing about 70% capacity) connected in parallel and hooked up to an old basic 5 amp Halfords charger. This just maintained the voltage at around 12.7 volts. Not ideal, but saves running the bike.
There must be dedicated power supplies out there.

 

[wessie]

Tried this today. Doesn't work as its not the amps thats the issue its the volts

the GS-911 will not function if it sees anything below 12.5volts

Whilst ignition off it happily reads 12.6/7 but once you turn the ignition on, and despite turning all lights off etc, it will drop to 12.4/3 which means the GS-911 will not work

You are aware of Ohm's Law? Voltage and amps are intrinsically linked. What is the state of charge of the slave battery? What Ah rating is the slave battery? If the slave battery is fully charged and has a decent Ah rating then you have a significant current draw when the ignition is turned on. The voltage will drop in proportion to the current draw measured in amps. It would be quite normal for this to happen on any bike when things like the fuel & ABS systems pressurise. The voltage should rise again once these processes are completed if the rest of the system is happy. If your bike continues to munch lots of amps from the battery then there is a fault somewhere.

 

[Bigcats]

You are aware of Ohm's Law? Voltage and amps are intrinsically linked. What is the state of charge of the slave battery? What Ah rating is the slave battery? If the slave battery is fully charged and has a decent Ah rating then you have a significant current draw when the ignition is turned on. The voltage will drop in proportion to the current draw measured in amps. It would be quite normal for this to happen on any bike when things like the fuel & ABS systems pressurise. The voltage should rise again once these processes are completed if the rest of the system is happy. If your bike continues to munch lots of amps from the battery then there is a fault somewhere.

Both fully charged but I will say the one on the bike replaced the one I used as a slave.

Only the dash and DRL are on... everything else is off though I would have thought the Ezcan will draw a tiny amount of power.

I have a feeling my slave battery despite showing a good voltage just hasn't got any oomph left and does quickly (hence why I changed it)

 

[Bigcats]

I used an old battery (still showing about 70% capacity) connected in parallel and hooked up to an old basic 5 amp Halfords charger. This just maintained the voltage at around 12.7 volts. Not ideal, but saves running the bike.
There must be dedicated power supplies out there.

I have a CTEk 5 connected but if it sees a full battery it doesn't do anything other than maintain

I think the dumber the charger the better

 

[wessie]

Both fully charged but I will say the one on the bike replaced the one I used as a slave.

Only the dash and DRL are on... everything else is off though I would have thought the Ezcan will draw a tiny amount of power.

I have a feeling my slave battery despite showing a good voltage just hasn't got any oomph left and does quickly (hence why I changed it)

do you have a car/van nearby to use as a slave? This will have more chance of maintaining the voltage needed. Just don't have the car engine running.

 

[b4n241]

Just checked, also Ctek mxs7 has the supply function.

 

[Victor c]

I have a CTEk 5 connected but if it sees a full battery it doesn't do anything other than maintain

I think the dumber the charger the better

Have you tried powering up the charger once the bike has powered up and stabilised? This should force the charger into full charge mode. This works on my Noco 2 charger, but the voltage is only maintained at around 12.2 volts, as it has a maximum output of 2 amps. My basic 5 amp Halfords charger shows just over 5 amps charge when connected to the slave battery, but I wouldn’t trust it directly onto the bike battery.

You also need decent jump leads and clips. I have some I made from scratch a few years ago, which have a good surface contact area on the croc clips. It also helps if you connect the slave battery a few minutes before powering the bike up. This allows the two to stabilise.

 

[Bigcats]

do you have a car/van nearby to use as a slave? This will have more chance of maintaining the voltage needed. Just don't have the car engine running.

I'll try this I think Wessie as I don't think the one I'm using is strong enough