Flat Battery

[Dario]

I have had a situation twice recently that i have gone to start the bike only to find that the battery was flat.
First time was about 12 days ago (had last used the bike about four days previous ) and went to start her but the battery was flat. Called BMW assist. In the time that it took their chap to come out ( 50 mins ) the optimate had put enough charge in the battery to start the bike. The tech chap checked the battery and was given a reading of immediate charging required. He also checked to see if there was any current draw on the bike but found nothing. The only thing i have connected is the power feed for the Garmin into the standard aux power outlet on the bike. Although the power feed was plugged into the outlet the Garmin unit was not plugged in. The tech guy did check that even with the Garmin plugged in the power outlet closed down after the ignition was switched off.
He concluded that it was most likely a faulty battery which was replaced.
Today i went out to start the bike and again a flat battery. Again the last time the bike was used was last Saturday. Once more the only thing plugged in was the power outlet for the Sat Nav and again this unit was not connected. BMW assist came out. Different tech guy but i explained what had happened before. This chap did the same tests with the same results ie battery required charging however no draw off the bike even with Garmin plugged in and ignition off ( as before power outlet switches off 30 seconds or so after ignition is switched off ).
I think it is reasonable to assume that although we changed the last battery the problem does not lie here.
I am using an optimate 4 ( canbus approved ). The bike is a 2010 GS that up till now has been reliable.
I have the battery on charge at the moment. Once charged i will leave it for a couple of days without the power outlet plugged and see what happens. If she starts i will try plugging in the outlet ( obviously without the connecting the Garmin ) leave for a few days and see if she starts. Although the tests on both occasions did not show up any current draw from the outlet all this really started since i connected the power outlet to aux feed.
I long thread ( sorry guys). Anybody had anything similar happen to then ? Or any ideas as to what could be the problem ?

Just to add that on both occasions the bike had not been left charging on the optimate.
Thanks in advance Dario.

 

[Roymondo]

The problem is almost certainly caused by that Garmin power lead connected to the normal aux power socket. Even without the GPS connected to it, and even though Canbus appears to have shut down the power socket, the voltage control circuitry in the Garmin connector causes a small current drain - enough to discharge the battery given time.

Either get into the habit of only plugging it in when you are actually using the GPS, or connect it permanently to the dedicated GPS connector that BMW provide.


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[Deleted account 231002001]

Maybe your leaving the little light on over the vanity mirror.

 

[GuS]

Optimate 4

I brought Optimate 4 from Nippy Normans, CanBus compatible. Left bike on charge for a couple of days, when i came to start bike battery totally dead! didn't even light up display when turned key. Had to buy new battery.
Contacted NN to see if they had any other reported issues with this type of charger, they say not. Is yours the second case?
I will not be using mine again

 

[Fanum]

STILL

 

[Stahlgewittern]

Ditch it

Had same symtoms you describe, done all the usual checks, everything seemed fine (puzzled).
Out for a ride in rural Cumbria stopped for a spot of Darjeeling, came to start bike..nowt!.
The battery had completely failed, efforts to jump start from a landrover was prevented by the bloody canbus system.
£40 quid for peace of mind.
Ps nearest halfords to Dent is Kendal

 

[morty]

dario,
disconnect battery from the bike & leave on charge for a couple of days & see if it starts ok,disconnect your satnav totally & repeat proccess. did you get battery from same place,batch etc??
I have opto 4 from nippy's ,mine is saying my batts on its way out,getting my mates charger to compare & see what it's analyzer says.

if you have old batt get someone to discharge test it

 

[AberdeenAngus]

efforts to jump start from a landrover was prevented by the bloody canbus system.

How did the canbus system prevent you from jump starting the bike ?

 

[davegs]

How did the canbus system prevent you from jump starting the bike ?

If you attempted to connect jump leads via the power socket the current drawen would trip it out any way but it shouldent work anyway 'cos of the canbus. The leads MUST be connected direct to the positive tereminal and the frame / negative terminal on the battery and it should go or at least turn over.
Dave GS

 

[trainman]

If you attempted to connect jump leads via the power socket the current drawen would trip it out any way but it shouldent work anyway 'cos of the canbus. The leads MUST be connected direct to the positive tereminal and the frame / negative terminal on the battery and it should go or at least turn over.
Dave GS

true, i am sure there are horror stories on here somewhere about fried electronics after using canbus sockets, even a normal accessory socket wired to the battery may not have wiring thick enough to take starting currents (and if its fused you will blow that too)

 

[morty]

have a look at cable on starter,thats the minimum thickness required for current draw when starting.
although you can get thin wall wiring nowadays that will take higher loads and is a fraction of the normal rated cable but will still be quite hefty,technical word that "hefty"

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Plug the Garmin into the specific power point up at the headstock which is wired into the Canbus and should be no problem. Unless of course you have done this and I've miss read the post

Just a question.....why are you using an optimate Is that the problem I wonder? I've never used on and mine lives outside year round and I have zero battery problems no matter what the weather.

 

[JPR]

Had a similar problem recently.
Optimate 4 connected thru canbus would fully charge battery,but if left connected the battery would drain???
Disconnected all auxillary,s on the bike and the same problem.
Spent a whole weekend checking everything I could and found the solution was to connect the charger direct to the battery terminals.
Sometimes the simplest solutions are staring us straight in the face

 

[Dario]

flat battery

So far it looks looks like the aux power outlet is drawing current when the power lead for the Garmin is plugged in. To qualify :- ignition off , Sat Nav removed from bike but power lead still plugged into aux outlet.
I left the bike for a couple days as above. Each day i would start the bike switch her off again and then connect the optimate. Optimate was connected only until the battery test was complete ( about 10 seconds ). This way i was able to observe that the charge in the battery was dropping.
I will repeat the process above next week except with the aux outlet unplugged. If the battery test does not show up a drop in charge then i guess we have found the problem.
I will update this post towards the middle of next week. Thanks for all your help. Dario

 

[trainman]

So far it looks looks like the aux power outlet is drawing current when the power lead for the Garmin is plugged in. To qualify :- ignition off , Sat Nav removed from bike but power lead still plugged into aux outlet.
I left the bike for a couple days as above. Each day i would start the bike switch her off again and then connect the optimate. Optimate was connected only until the battery test was complete ( about 10 seconds ). This way i was able to observe that the charge in the battery was dropping.
I will repeat the process above next week except with the aux outlet unplugged. If the battery test does not show up a drop in charge then i guess we have found the problem.
I will update this post towards the middle of next week. Thanks for all your help. Dario

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=300753&page=2

this recent thread explains, in a nutshell various sat navs have voltage adaptors as they all largely run on 5v (if its powered via the usb socket then its 5v or a similar low voltage), when left plugged into Canbus they can keep the system open and drain off batt. even with the sat nav taken away

 

[GSmonkey]

So far it looks looks like the aux power outlet is drawing current when the power lead for the Garmin is plugged in. To qualify :- ignition off , Sat Nav removed from bike but power lead still plugged into aux outlet.
I left the bike for a couple days as above. Each day i would start the bike switch her off again and then connect the optimate. Optimate was connected only until the battery test was complete ( about 10 seconds ). This way i was able to observe that the charge in the battery was dropping.
I will repeat the process above next week except with the aux outlet unplugged. If the battery test does not show up a drop in charge then i guess we have found the problem.
I will update this post towards the middle of next week. Thanks for all your help. Dario

You'd be better off using the battery voltage to determine the state of charge. See the volt drop over a couple of days with the Garmin plugged in. Then charge and do the same test with it unplugged. The delta in voltage would give an indication of current draw over the time.

 

[smartbear]

They all do that

i recently had the same issues, my bike chewed its way through two batteries before i realised it was the sat-nav power supply draining the power down (even though no sat-nav was attatched)
I always thought the clever can bus system closed everything down, how stupid of me!
regards

 

[Sgt Bilco]

i recently had the same issues, my bike chewed its way through two batteries before i realised it was the sat-nav power supply draining the power down (even though no sat-nav was attatched)
I always thought the clever can bus system closed everything down, how stupid of me!
regards

Was it plugged into the correct socket up by the headstock or just wired to the battery

 

[smartbear]

it was plugged into the power socket under the seat-seeing as its designed for accessaries i thoughtit would switch off with the ignition, it was strange as my sat-nav 'see's' it go off but with it removed but the transformer left plugged in it seems to keep power flowing out the socket leaving the battery flat after a week or so?
i leave it unplugged if im not using it now & iv not had a problem since
regards

 

[Roymondo]

it was plugged into the power socket under the seat-seeing as its designed for accessaries i thoughtit would switch off with the ignition, it was strange as my sat-nav 'see's' it go off but with it removed but the transformer left plugged in it seems to keep power flowing out the socket leaving the battery flat after a week or so?
i leave it unplugged if im not using it now & iv not had a problem since
regards

This tallies exactly with what I posted earlier in the thread - either connect it to BMW's dedicated GPS power connector (up near the headstock) or, if you must connect to the accessory socket, get into the habit of unplugging the lead from said socket when you are not using the bike.


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