Charging Problems

[Scallopman]

Anyone had charging problems with the 1300 GS, got mine 2 months ago been in garage with an Optimate 4 Premium
charger plugged into can bus. Went to start in for easter trip nothing came on, no display, nothing. Checked voltage on battery 00.0V
bike was recovered back to BMW 2 days ago. Have heard from Opimate ( emailed them to check if they had been contacted about any issues with this charger) they said there has been problems with the 1300 GS where the canbus itself over charges Lithium battery which then shuts down!! Trying to find out if this has happened to other owners and what BMW did to sort it out??

 

[JJH]

I’d be sceptical about opimate claim. JJH

 

[Smartbazza]

Yes. Exactly the same. Bought an optimate 4 from NN as I like leaving any bike I own on a trickle charger if not being used.
Road my 1300 home 31 miles and parked it.The garage and put on the optimate.
The weather was great so I went out to the bike and found it completely dead, not even the wee red dash light if the key isn’t present.
Got it recovered to BMW.
Turns out the Optimate had done something to the bike which lead to it discharging the battery completely and not accepting the charge.
Dealer was great and sent the diagnostic report to head office who confirmed the optimate 4 should not be used on the 1300. They gave me a BMW charger as a goodwill offering.
I collected the bike on Good Friday and did 500 trouble free miles over the weekend. Anyone want an Optimate.

Barry

 

[Golf Sierra]

Yes. Exactly the same. Bought an optimate 4 from NN as I like leaving any bike I own on a trickle charger if not being used.
Road my 1300 home 31 miles and parked it.The garage and put on the optimate.
The weather was great so I went out to the bike and found it completely dead, not even the wee red dash light if the key isn’t present.
Got it recovered to BMW.
Turns out the Optimate had done something to the bike which lead to it discharging the battery completely and not accepting the charge.
Dealer was great and sent the diagnostic report to head office who confirmed the optimate 4 should not be used on the 1300. They gave me a BMW charger as a goodwill offering.
I collected the bike on Good Friday and did 500 trouble free miles over the weekend. Anyone want an Optimate.

I also have a new BMW Battery Charger Plus (for my 1300). When I plugged it into the bike for the first time it ran through the usual checks and then started its charging cycle. However, after some time I noticed the charger was getting hot to the extent I considered switching it off. However, I monitored it and whenever the bike reached 100% charge and the charger went into sleep mode it became cold again. I’m wondering is this ‘normal’ practice or is there a fault with my particular Battery Charger Plus? I would be interested in your experience after you first connect etc.

 

[Smartbazza]

Gs, I haven’t used it yet but will revert when I do.

Barry

 

[Golf Sierra]

 

[tspivey]

I also have a new BMW Battery Charger Plus (for my 1300). When I plugged it into the bike for the first time it ran through the usual checks and then started its charging cycle. However, after some time I noticed the charger was getting hot to the extent I considered switching it off. However, I monitored it and whenever the bike reached 100% charge and the charger went into sleep mode it became cold again. I’m wondering is this ‘normal’ practice or is there a fault with my particular Battery Charger Plus? I would be interested in your experience after you first connect etc.

Had mine for just over a month now constantly connected whenever the bike is in the garage. I did notice that it was default set to lead acid when I first connected and I had to switch it over to Lithium. Not noticed any heat problems but I put a cable tie on mine so it hangs from the handlebar, rather than laid on a surface so it gets better air circulation.

As for Optimate, I’d read somewhere and posted on here or somewhere about this issue. Can’t remember where I first saw the issue reported though.

 

[Golf Sierra]

Had mine for just over a month now constantly connected whenever the bike is in the garage. I did notice that it was default set to lead acid when I first connected and I had to switch it over to Lithium. Not noticed any heat problems but I put a cable tie on mine so it hangs from the handlebar, rather than laid on a surface so it gets better air circulation.

As for Optimate, I’d read somewhere and posted on here or somewhere about this issue. Can’t remember where I first saw the issue reported though.

Yep, set it to Lithium mode first up and had it standing upright with ‘free air’ front and back (the back got hot; front stayed cold). Interesting. I’ll keep an eye on it and see what the consensus is.

 

[RadioFlyer]

Anyone had charging problems with the 1300 GS, got mine 2 months ago been in garage with an Optimate 4 Premium
charger plugged into can bus.

Charging electrics have nothing to do with the CAN-bus. The CAN-bus does data comms amongst controllers on the bike. This is a popular misconception largely propagated by vendors who should know better.

 

[leadfarmer]

I also have a new BMW Battery Charger Plus (for my 1300). When I plugged it into the bike for the first time it ran through the usual checks and then started its charging cycle. However, after some time I noticed the charger was getting hot to the extent I considered switching it off. However, I monitored it and whenever the bike reached 100% charge and the charger went into sleep mode it became cold again. I’m wondering is this ‘normal’ practice or is there a fault with my particular Battery Charger Plus? I would be interested in your experience after you first connect etc.

Mine’s on a BMW Plus charger too, the sleep mode is normal, it will also “wake up” and start charging again when it needs to, mine didn’t move for a month because of the weather and it worked perfectly

Haven’t noticed the heat thing but mine’s fixed to the wall

 

[Scallopman]

Mine’s on a BMW Plus charger too, the sleep mode is normal, it will also “wake up” and start charging again when it needs to, mine didn’t move for a month because of the weather and it worked perfectly

Haven’t noticed the heat thing but mine’s fixed to the wall

 

[Scallopman]

What I was just trying to do is find out if it’s OK to use the Optimate 4 Premium charger on the 1300GS via the ‘power socket’ which is labelled the canbus on the charger. Opinion seems to be divided- I’ll take BMW’s advice when they return the bike!

 

[RadioFlyer]

What I was just trying to do is find out if it’s OK to use the Optimate 4 Premium charger on the 1300GS via the ‘power socket’ which is labelled the canbus on the charger. Opinion seems to be divided- I’ll take BMW’s advice when they return the bike!

The charger is in program mode 4, right?

 

[Smartbazza]

What I was just trying to do is find out if it’s OK to use the Optimate 4 Premium charger on the 1300GS via the ‘power socket’ which is labelled the canbus on the charger. Opinion seems to be divided- I’ll take BMW’s advice when they return the bike!

It’s not.

Barry

 

[leadfarmer]

What I was just trying to do is find out if it’s OK to use the Optimate 4 Premium charger on the 1300GS via the ‘power socket’ which is labelled the canbus on the charger. Opinion seems to be divided- I’ll take BMW’s advice when they return the bike!

I was answering Golf Sierra’s question

Can’t help with the Optimate I’m afraid

 

[stixdrive]

Anyone had charging problems with the 1300 GS, got mine 2 months ago been in garage with an Optimate 4 Premium
charger plugged into can bus. Went to start in for easter trip nothing came on, no display, nothing. Checked voltage on battery 00.0V
bike was recovered back to BMW 2 days ago. Have heard from Opimate ( emailed them to check if they had been contacted about any issues with this charger) they said there has been problems with the 1300 GS where the canbus itself over charges Lithium battery which then shuts down!! Trying to find out if this has happened to other owners and what BMW did to sort it out??

Yes, I have had the exact same problem. Thanks for posting this. No I can either take up the problem with NN or it is a BMW battery issue. I got BMW assist who recharged the battery. I am no longer using the optimate.

 

[tspivey]

 

[PitaNaanRoti]

Using it on a 1300 is not the problem.
Using it by plugging it onto the accessory socket is.
Just connect the lead that comes with it to the battery directly and it will work absolutely fine.
Plus, you then have an accessory plug without the canbus 5A restriction.

 

[tspivey]

Using it on a 1300 is not the problem.
Using it by plugging it onto the accessory socket is.
Just connect the lead that comes with it to the battery directly and it will work absolutely fine.
Plus, you then have an accessory plug without the canbus 5A restriction.

It does say in the manual though not to connect directly to the battery, unless it’s removed from the bike. I’ve connected directly to the battery on all my bikes for years, without problem but it does make it clear not to.
My dealer also advised not to because of possible warranty problems should anything electrical go wrong.

 

[Swansea Jack]

My 1250 did the same but the mechanic said to connect straight to the battery no problems since.
Just maybe do the same on the 1300