Daft question, what battery charger please?

Ex-Call Centre Chimp

Ex-Call Centre Chimp

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I have a very late 2012/13 TC 1200 GSA and the battery charger has died.
I just expected to be able to swap it out for a new one (see photo below) but having looked these don't appear to be available anymore and there are now a myriad of options which is just confusing me.
I have the little round din plug type socket on the LHS of the bike that I plug the charger into rather than connecting directly to the battery and would like to do the same with the new one.

1000082057.jpg

As ever, thanks in advance Comrades.
 
Optimate 1 with a sae din adapter.

It’s all the charger you’ll ever need.

Although personally I’d put the sae cable direct to battery.


You can then power loads of stuff if required. Compressor, heated kit, etc etc. 👍🏽
 
Guru Gora said:
Optimate 1 with a sae din adapter.

It’s all the charger you’ll ever need.

Although personally I’d put the sae cable direct to battery.


You can then power loads of stuff if required. Compressor, heated kit, etc etc. 👍🏽
Click to expand...
I do both

I have the optimate 4 with the din plug which i put on the battery if i know im not riding for a while.
Bought it from SBS

I have the SAE lead under seat for powering tyre pump, heated gear and also run a lead under seats to back box which has a plug in it that gives me a bank of UBS inside the backbox while riding.
I have a large powerbank that i charge while I'm riding which gives me power when camping, then recharges during the next days ride etc.
 
Ex-Call Centre Chimp said:
Cheers. Safe to assume my current bike doesn't have a lithium battery?
Click to expand...

Pretty sure that old charger is lead acid only, if you haven’t deliberately changed the battery for a lithium then yes, it will certainly be lead acid

The charger you linked to will do both, it’s a good brand, I’ve got a Honda branded one that I got buckshee with my Forza
 
Thank you all for your help.
I ended up buying the BMW branded one as I always panic about the Canbus thing being potentially affected by non BMW branded stuff. At £99 I was happy to pay the relatively small premium for piece of mind.

leadfarmer said:
Pretty sure that old charger is lead acid only, if you haven’t deliberately changed the battery for a lithium then yes, it will certainly be lead acid.
Click to expand...

You're quite right, it's not Lithium. Thanks again.
 
FFS. I've noticed that the only light that's on now is the power light. A quick check on Google shows:-

"Your old BMW charger (likely the grey unit or the classic Deltran-made model) communicated differently with the motorcycle’s computer (CAN-bus system). [1, 2, 3]
The newer BMW chargers, specifically the BMW Motorrad Battery Charger Plus, feature a stricter microprocessor firmware. The distinct behavioral differences between the two models explain the current issue: [1]

Why your old charger behaved differently
  • Continuous Ping: The older BMW chargers continuously "pinged" the bike's accessory socket with a low voltage signal to trick the CAN-bus computer into keeping the port awake indefinitely.
  • Continuous Lights: Because the port never shut down, the old charger kept its progress and stage lights illuminated the entire time it was plugged into the wall. [1, 2]

Why the new "Plus" charger goes blank
  • Strict Power Saving: The new model enters a strict sleep/monitoring mode once it finishes its initial bulk charge cycle. [1]
  • CAN-Bus Timeout: If the new charger pauses its output to analyze the battery, the bike's central computer interprets this drop in power draw as "inactivity". The computer will automatically shut down the accessory socket exactly 60 seconds later to protect the motorcycle's electrical system. [1, 2]
  • The "Power Only" Result: Once the bike cuts off the socket, the charger can no longer "see" the battery. It assumes it has been unplugged from the motorcycle, turning off all diagnostic or charging lights, leaving only the Power indicator illuminated.".
As I always said when I worked in the Call Centre "Every improvement makes things worse".
 
If the new BMW unit is not charging, have you tried the following Bill ?
As it's a canbus charger you should not have to but it may assist diagnosis.
  1. Turn on ignition for about 10 seconds or until self checking process complete.
  2. Turn the ignition off, socket should be awake for a short time.
  3. Connect charger to the DIN socket then mains on.
This won't stop the charger going to sleep and the socket shutting down, but at least you may be able to charge the battery until you find a solution. As you know I have the identical bike to you and have never had any issues with a fly lead directly to battery terminals.
 
Last edited:
GSite said:
If the new BMW unit is not charging, have you tried the following Bill ?
As it's a canbus charger you should not have to but it may assist diagnosis.
  1. Turn on ignition for about 10 seconds or until self checking process complete.
  2. Turn the ignition off, socket should be awake for a short time.
  3. Connect charger to the DIN socket then mains on.
This won't stop the charger going to sleep and the socket shutting down, but at least you may be able to charge the battery until you find a solution. As you know I have the identical bike to you and have never had any issues with a fly lead directly to battery terminals.
Click to expand...
Cheers Andy, yep that's what I would have to do. It's bloody frustrating given that it's a BMW branded product and one pays a premium for it.
First World problems though, eh?
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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