GS Battery died again

[JukkaGS]

WTF...Again a dead battery on my -11 GSA...
Bought my GSA last september, couple of weeks driving and one evening she didn't start. Ok no problem, called BMW online service and they send a towtruck to pick my bike to the workshop. Next day a call from workshop and they told they recharged the battery and everything is ok... Winter came and after a couple of months in a warm garage and charging battery every now and then and everything seemed to be ok. Decided anyway to buy a new battery. installed a new one and now been driving with my new battery for 2 weeks...Today after a short trip to petrol station it didn't start without jumpstart???!!!!
Got back home and cheked the charging voltage which is 14,5 v on idle so that seems to be ok. But still the power is going somewhere...
Any ideas for this or is the new battery just f...d up?

 

[topcat2006]

How long are the runs you make and what accessories do you have turned on on the run?

Are there any aftermarket accessories on the bike and how are they wired in?

What is the charger you use and what is the battery you have?

I believe the 1200 draws current from the battery even when not in use Due to the CAN bus.

Regards

Tom

 

[crawling finn]

At least on the earlier bike the brake servo can quickly drain the battery.
Check that the servo is not running continuously. This can be caused for example by hand guard pressing against the brake lever.

Sami

 

[Sgt Bilco]

No servo's on a 2011 bike. As metioned before, check any thing you have attached to the battery because that will be causing the drain.

It's unlikely that the CANBUS will drain a battery in such a short period of time.

 

[JukkaGS]

No servo's on a 2011 bike. As metioned before, check any thing you have attached to the battery because that will be causing the drain.

It's unlikely that the CANBUS will drain a battery in such a short period of time.

Everything battery attached extras has been checked now. Found nothing from those parts, they are all "cold" as soon I turn off ignition. All extras has been wired through relay so that they are on only when the engine is running.
First time when this bike did this it was couple of weeks old, and it didn't have any accessories mounted on it.
Anyway I'll replace battery once more and look if that comes toasted in 2 weeks, it just might be that the cheap Euroglobe battery doesn't work as good as the oem Yuasa which came toasted in 3 months...

 

[craig614]

Seem to remember from reading something somewhere on here that there is a choice of batteries for the 2010 GS/GSAs - smaller batteries can be fitted (to save cash) with some sort of spacer take up the gap - hard to believe that BMW dealers would do this.........
I know you've changed the original but was the original the correct one in the first place?
Just a thought.

 

[Georgeeboi]

Sorry to hijack a bit but I have no trickle charge on my bike at all if I don't use it for a while will it drain the battery? I have no extras such as sat nav or alarm hope you get it sorted.

 

[Mr K]

As mentioned in a previous post: Are you doing short/around town journeys with aux lights, grips etc on?
If so the battery won't get a chance to replenish the charge used to start the engine.

 

[JukkaGS]

Seem to remember from reading something somewhere on here that there is a choice of batteries for the 2010 GS/GSAs - smaller batteries can be fitted (to save cash) with some sort of spacer take up the gap - hard to believe that BMW dealers would do this.........
I know you've changed the original but was the original the correct one in the first place?
Just a thought.

Yes the original Yuasa battery was a small one fitted with spacer and some 11Ah power. The new one is a bit bigger 12Ah power.

 

[JukkaGS]

As mentioned in a previous post: Are you doing short/around town journeys with aux lights, grips etc on?
If so the battery won't get a chance to replenish the charge used to start the engine.

Unfortunately my rides are around town jorneys, sometimes I do a longer +300km trip but haven't recognised any change on battery behavior. Anyway I'll try tomorrow drive a longer trip and see if it helps. Just measured the voltage in battery and it was 13,4volts so it looks to be in somekind condition...

 

[gipsymagpie]

Change to an Odyssey battery. Relatively easy to put in and I have never looked back at the 2 I had die before that. Money well spent.

This one

 

[jdel2204]

you need a 12V 14Ah

 

[jdel2204]

or better, check this :
http://www.befr.ebay.be/itm/230491415692?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648

don't know if they are available in your country, but those work great. installed one a while ago on my R 1150 RT that had a dead battery (wich is known as beeing very current), never had a problem afterwards, cold weather or not.

the one on my R 12 is still in condition but in a cold morning I have to hope the engine will crank at the first attempt because the battery doesn't allow a second one.
when she fails one time I'll go for this "green" battery. price is one of its best point as well!

 

[JukkaGS]

Day off today so I had time to measure the battery once again. There is a current leak of 0,56mA all the time when everything is cut off
So there is a slight discharging going on all the time. Tried this on both ignition key positions (off and steering lock position).

 

[jdel2204]

you will always have some consumption. don't know how much, but if you want your dashboard will remember the time, mileage and so on...it needs some food.
if your bike has an oem alarm system it needs also some power.
anyway, your battery is way to weak when it is only a 11 or 12 Ah. standard spec for a GSA has always been 14 Ah, but if you have a look on the spec of the new 1200 RT you will see 19Ah. ok, on a RT you may have a few more equipment like a radio, warmed seat...but at the end...
all the BMW I have owned have always needed to be maintened by a battery charger. it is not normal, but it is like that. forgot to plug the bike for a few days, no crank. only solved by putting in it a stronger battery.
crank the bike is the heaviest thing you may ask to the battery. certainly when it is a twin with a displacement of 1200 cc. try to push it to start it, you will understand what you ask to your starter.
now...your bike may have a problem, since there are no known data related to normal consumption when off, you'd better ask a dealer about that specific point.

 

[jdel2204]

the electrical system on a bike has 3 important components: the alternator, the battery, and a regulator.
your alternator is a stupid thing that turns everytime the bike is running. if it works properly, it will always put out the same amount of energy depending on the RPM. your battery is a stupid thing that can only charge and discharge.your regulator is the master and the brain of the system. it will allow the charge of the battery, or not.
since your dealer and you have been able to charge the battery using a charger, your battery -if not too weak- is not in cause. If I was you I would check the output from the alternator when running. you have a 720 Watts alternator, power=tension (12v) x intensity (A) so you must be able to calculate what the alternator may deliver when trying to charge a full dead battery.
if your alternator operates properly, the regulator may be defect. but I still stick to my first idea: way too weak battery.

 

[JukkaGS]

I guess I found the problem. called to a friend of mine who is an expert on the CAN BUS system. First thing he asked was, what navigator do you have on the bike? I told that I have a garmin, he asked that is it a type of garmin which has a separate transformer on it. I told him yes there is a box between battery cable and plug for the navi. He told that here in Finland they had lot's of problems with taxi's where a certain type of garmin navi was installed, and all of those navigators where a type with transformer to decrease voltage from 12 volts to something lower. In my zumo 220 is a similar system. This system is poison for vehicles with CAN BUS system because even when you switch off eletricity completely from the circuit so this transformer still goes on, and even when the current is low so it leaves the CAN system activated and drains the battery,,,
So now I took off the navi fuse and tomorrow we'll se again that was this problem solved...

 

[ianm00]

I guess I found the problem. called to a friend of mine who is an expert on the CAN BUS system. First thing he asked was, what navigator do you have on the bike? I told that I have a garmin, he asked that is it a type of garmin which has a separate transformer on it. I told him yes there is a box between battery cable and plug for the navi. He told that here in Finland they had lot's of problems with taxi's where a certain type of garmin navi was installed, and all of those navigators where a type with transformer to decrease voltage from 12 volts to something lower. In my zumo 220 is a similar system. This system is poison for vehicles with CAN BUS system because even when you switch off eletricity completely from the circuit so this transformer still goes on, and even when the current is low so it leaves the CAN system activated and drains the battery,,,
So now I took off the navi fuse and tomorrow we'll se again that was this problem solved...

I have zumo 550 on my gs1200 wired to the GPS connector near the headstock. Never had this problem with battery?

Ian

 

[Gossy]

I have zumo 550 on my gs1200 wired to the GPS connector near the headstock. Never had this problem with battery?

Ian

Is it this lead??

 

[davegs]

I guess I found the problem. called to a friend of mine who is an expert on the CAN BUS system. First thing he asked was, what navigator do you have on the bike? I told that I have a garmin, he asked that is it a type of garmin which has a separate transformer on it. I told him yes there is a box between battery cable and plug for the navi. He told that here in Finland they had lot's of problems with taxi's where a certain type of garmin navi was installed, and all of those navigators where a type with transformer to decrease voltage from 12 volts to something lower. In my zumo 220 is a similar system. This system is poison for vehicles with CAN BUS system because even when you switch off eletricity completely from the circuit so this transformer still goes on, and even when the current is low so it leaves the CAN system activated and drains the battery,,,
So now I took off the navi fuse and tomorrow we'll se again that was this problem solved...

It aint a transformer these only work on ac current bikes are dc