Battery woes

[colesyboy]

Hi all,

I've had to push start my tractor 1150gs adv a few times of late, because the batter is dead.

Ive been putting in a few miles and was kind of hoping that the battery might be charged up nicely.

Every day that Ive been using it, ive been using the autocom to talk to my girlie. Also been listening to musak on it.

The alarm goes on over night and it just feels low on juice. Ive not been using the lights in the hope that the battery charges up.

I noticed in trying to gather info on this prob that the F3 fuse is blown when I try to plug my ipod in the accesory socket (this shares the inline fuse as the alarm system for some daft reason) - ive only tried this with the bike not running, will try again with the bike running when I get another spare 15 amp fuse.

Im pretty fik in the heid when it comes to things like this. Can anyone shed light on why the battery is low even though ive done 2000 miles on it in the last 3 weeks? Could the alternator be shafted somehow - the battery was new when I bought it.

Have got a garage to charge it up for me, but I have a suspicion that the swine will kark it again before long.

Cheers guys,

Colesy in Roma

 

[GSmonkey]

Once the battery has run flat, even once, it's fairly knackered. You need a new battery and a maintenance charger.

 

[essbee]

FECK, you can push start an 1150GS!!! RESPECT

 

[colesyboy]

So its a new battery then?

Bugger me, thats 80 quid out of the budget. Poo. I guess I need to find out why it karked it in the first place. Multimeter job to discover what is drawing on it.

I have my suspicions that its the datatool 3 alarm thats not helping. I havent left the bike doing nothing for sometime.

So should I see what the draw it when stationary and with the autocom plugged in then at fast idle?

The datatool inline fuse is the F3 fuse (that shares the accessory socket and spot lights on the bike). Datatool want a 10 amp fuse for this, but the BMW manuals says the F3 should be a 15 amp fuse (which is what is in the bike). Does that shed any light on this problem at all?

Bored with push starting it now.

Cheers,

Brian

 

[mumfy]

Bugger me, thats 80 quid out of the budget. Poo. I guess I need to find out why it karked it in the first place. Multimeter job to discover what is drawing on it.

I have my suspicions that its the datatool 3 alarm thats not helping. I havent left the bike doing nothing for sometime.

So should I see what the draw it when stationary and with the autocom plugged in then at fast idle?

The datatool inline fuse is the F3 fuse (that shares the accessory socket and spot lights on the bike). Datatool want a 10 amp fuse for this, but the BMW manuals says the F3 should be a 15 amp fuse (which is what is in the bike). Does that shed any light on this problem at all?

Bored with push starting it now.

Cheers,

Brian

try easystart batteries on 01536 203030 got one at BMF rally for £30 S.L.A TYPE

 

[Greg Masters]

Once the battery has run flat, even once, it's fairly knackered. You need a new battery and a maintenance charger.

.... and you need to do your best to ensure that the battery is never left, however short a period, in a less than fully charged state.

I watch with some bemusement a number of members of this board who use the kill switch to stop the engine and then leave the headlight on for 5 minutes or so. It's a battery killer!

Every moment that the battery is less than fully charged and when there is no charge going into the battery, the plates start to sulphate. The more deeply discharged, the quicker that process is. the more deeply suphated the plates are, the poorer the battery performs - irrespective of how many miles you ride without lights/music etc.

Greg

 

[Womble]

Battery tips

Before you shell out for a new battery, check that the charging is working properly. This might save you either buying a new battery unnecessarily or killing another one because the battery problems weren't the actual cause.

From general experience (cars, a GSX250 and a VFR750) here's a reasonable plan of attack:

First, I suggest that you locate and check the earth cable (connects the -ve terminal to the bike). If the connection from the battery to the rest of the bike is old/worn/corroded, everything will appear to charge correctly, but because some of the charging voltage is being wasted across the earth, the battery will take a lot longer to reach a proper state of charge. Starting will also be sluggish because part of the starting current is being wasted in heating the earth connection.

Cleaning or replacing the earth connection is generally very simple and cheap.

Next, check the voltage across the terminals on the battery when it's running. You should see around 13.5V at idle, rising to about 14.5V when you rev. I'd expect it to reach the maximum level by about 3500 RPM. If the idle voltage below about 13.5V, this points to a bad earth connection, or indeed a duff battery.

At this point, I would normally suggest that you disconnect the regufier and test the alternator winding resistances. However, I've just checked my Haynes manual, and it appears that the regufier is integrated with the alternator on 1150GSs, so it's not likely to be a simple case of pulling apart a connector to complete the diagnosis.

If the voltage doesn't rise much when the engine is revved, that's probably a regufier/alternator problem.

Beyond that, check the voltage on the battery after a ride, and then again, before you try and start the bike the next day. If there's a big difference, you may have a fault in the wiring loom that's draining the battery overnight (or the battery's knackered).

To track down a wiring fault, I suggest that you try pulling fuses overnight and see if any of them makes a difference. You could also consider measuring current through each circuit (with the ignition off) by pulling each fuse and connecting up a meter in on current (Amp) mode. Please put in a sacrificial fuse that's less than your meter can cope with first - if it blows, it's cheaper than fixing the multimeter, and you've probably found the fault anyway

And make sure that you reset the meter to a safe setting afterwards

 

[colesyboy]

Thanks guys

Bought a multimeter in a market in Rome today, as not coming home for another 9 months on the bike. So need to fix this in transit.

With the bike turned off (alarm on), the meter read 13.09 with the bike on and at 2000 rpm it read 14.00 dead

For starters does that sound normal?

Will do the other tests after pizza and wine

 

[Red Devil]

Hi there, 14v with the engine running is spot-on. It's likely that the problem is due to a poor earth - as suggested by another member, or a knackered battery. I had a daytona 955i with a datatool alarm fitted & it slowly but surely killed 2 batteries. Batteries don't like a constant drain on them, even if it's very low.
I highly recommend you purchase an 'Optimate' or similar, as once I'd bought mine, I've never had another problem. They monitor the state of the battery and only charge it when it's required.
Hope you enjoy the pizza!!!!!

 

[Bezzler]

when you get time fit the jump start lugs on the starter motor,(takes 15 minutes) saves the heart failure in the mornings.

 

[Frank Warner]

If youyr touring around .. getting a mains powered charger (optimate abtery tender etc) won't help if you cannot get a power pont every night you stop.

The 14v says the bikes charging system is fine. The problem is the discharge when the engine stops - you listening to the ipod, running the alarm etc does not help. If you can dissconnect teh bikes battery overnight and see if the battery will start the bike in the morning .. if it does then you knon the cause.

On my tours I try to run things off their internal batteries (cammera, phone, PDA, GPS etc) ... and recharge them when teh bike is running .. not use up the bikes battery.

 

[colesyboy]

Thanks all

I,ll check the earth tonight - dont normally run ipod etc off the bike when its not running, just did it once and it blew the fuse on the bike. Surely thats not right?

The battery was charged 4 days ago now and so far its seems to be ok, and thats including leaving it standing in Rome for 3 days without use.

Thanks again for all the suggestions, it helps to know there is this big helpful resource out there.

 

[colesyboy]

Problem again

Thanks for all the help.

Problem has reoccured and BMW in Italy ripped out the datatool 3 alarm system to try and resolve the problem. Great.

Not wonderful really - Croatia cant help (where we are now) so will be push starting it every day until we get to Greece.

I am thinking that BMW italy checked the earth (where is it by the way - they didnt tell me when I asked ) and that they did all the things here on this posting. The battery I have been told is fine. Im thinking (guessing) its something in the wireing loom any ideas how long it might take to diagnose or any other suggestions.

Thanks again guys,

Brian

 

[Womble]

Any luck?

It's difficult to say what next. If there's something draining the battery and it's a loom fault, it's down to logical faultfinding.

Check the all the wiring from the battery to everywhere else. Make sure that it's in good condition. For every wire that you check, you will inevitably come to either a device or a fuse (or a fusebox). If the wiring to the fuses is in good condition and there's not a problem, you will need to go back to my previous post
1) Check the earth connections - current won't flow if the circuit is bad. You might think the battery is draining, when it isn't actually charging properly, or the battery can't shove current properly.
2) Disconnect bits of the wiring loom by removing fuses (make sure that you put them back in the right place afterwards) or disconnecting the actual devices. If the overnight battery drain stops, follow the path until you find the problem.

I'm afraid it's something where you will just have to be thorough and logical. Unfortunately, in my experience, mechanics are called mechanics for an (understandable) reason, and I tend to look after my own wiring as a result. I'm not slagging off mechanics, it's just that the technology has changed and extra specialisms are required.

If your dealer can't fix it, try a local auto electrics specialist, they will probably sort you in no time.

 

[nud1e]

Thanks for all the help.

Problem has reoccured and BMW in Italy ripped out the datatool 3 alarm system to try and resolve the problem. Great.

Not wonderful really - Croatia cant help (where we are now) so will be push starting it every day until we get to Greece.

I am thinking that BMW italy checked the earth (where is it by the way - they didnt tell me when I asked ) and that they did all the things here on this posting. The battery I have been told is fine. Im thinking (guessing) its something in the wireing loom any ideas how long it might take to diagnose or any other suggestions.

Thanks again guys,

Brian

If the battery is fine but you have bump start the bike, something is discharging the battery overnight. Try disconnecting the battery when you park up for the night. If, in the morning, the bike will start after reconnecting the battery at least you won't have to bump start and you'll know that some unit not switched through the ignition is draining the battery.
How is your Autocom wired?

 

[colesyboy]

Thanks again....solved i think......

It looks like it probably was the datatool 3 alarm that was draining the battery. Battery confirmed by Bosche battery man to be a dead'un. So got that replaced a week ago and all looking good, took the tractor to a large BMW garage in Greece and the chief motorcycle mechanic man strapped a diagnostic device to the bike and measured the alternator (working fine) and new battery (not losing charge but all topped up as exected).

The bike is starting quickly as normal and the ABS lights dont flash alternately (as it seemed to do all the time with old battery).

So what I am hoping is this,.....
Old battery drained and knackerd, didnt hold charge due to knackerness. Chief source of drain (alarm) removed.
Brian a happy bunny when bike starts every day without probs.

Time will tell I guess.

Thanks again all for the positive and detailed responses, I now know a lot more about batteries than I used to.