key out battery drain 68mA

rim357

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R1200gs 2004 40k miles ive own for 6 months has this current drain problem.
aux socket and heat grips work ok evefthing seems to run ok.
Bmw said it mite be zfe or ecu or bike thinks it has a alarm but it doesnt,charge me 45 quid for the
privilege of naff all.
Anyway am good with an ammeter so if anyone can guide me that would be appreciated.

Have checked for alarm theres just 4 wires running into a plug and a blanking piece with a 120ohm resistor across 2 pins all seems fine.

Are there any points i should check ?

Cheers
 
Did they check your bikes chassis number that all the safety work has been done?

Does your red hazard lamp illuminate for about 30 seconds to a minute maximum and then go out ??

If it stays illuminated longer there is an old update that the Mk 1 R1200's had to have done that should cure the power drain if I'm correct
 
Unplug the alarm and check the current drain. Ditto the instrument block

I've recently fitted a digital voltmeter to my Mk2. It stays alive for quite some time after the ignition key is removed.
 
thanks 4 the replies

New battery fitted, warning light out in30secs. ive even scored the plastic on the zfe to check if i could find any burnt out transistors all seem ok (glued it back with araldite).
From what dealer said it could be alarm, clocks, zfe or ecu which made me laugh as that info cost me 45 quid.
Im thinking it could be a alternator rectifier or something like that anyone got any suggestions for me to try out im fine using a dvm
cheers
 
Some one I worked with had a very similar problem on his 2004 model, it was caused by a short in the wiring to the rear light somewhere on the rear subframe.
 
Let me get this straight?

You have 0.068 amps reading on your meter?

which I "think!" (but maybe NickV or Bendy can find the actual figure) is acceptable ??


Remember you have the ZFE, the Clocks, the ABS controller that all need energy to maintain their memory

So less than 0.1 amp is in the acceptable range (I think)

Just in case you are chasing a red herring

They usually go flat in 2 to 4 weeks depending in the battery

BUT if you put the key to the lock position what reading do you get after a minute for example? I was told by my previous foreman (Who is with bmw for 30 years) that it will sleep in that position whereas when just switched off its ready to "wake" and start pretty much immediately hence the slightly higher current draw......
 
If you suspect the alternator just pull the connectors and recheck.

I always leave mine with steering unlocked but it's handy to know the electronic sleep/wake info.
Thanks due to DrFarkoff. :)
 
You are entitled to your opinion, but you are wrong!

DrFarkoff said:
You have 0.068 amps reading on your meter?
Remember you have the ZFE, the Clocks, the ABS controller that all need energy to maintain their memory

So less than 0.1 amp is in the acceptable range (I think)

Just in case you are chasing a red herring

They usually go flat in 2 to 4 weeks depending in the battery

BUT if you put the key to the lock position what reading do you get after a minute for example? I was told by my previous foreman (Who is with bmw for 30 years) that it will sleep in that position whereas when just switched off its ready to "wake" and start pretty much immediately hence the slightly higher current draw......
Click to expand...

Living as I do, like yourself, in Norn Iron, the need to chain your bike to a lampost and lock the steering is not as necessary as it is in G.B.

I seldom lock the steering. Just take the keys out of 1200 and leave it. It can sit there for 3 months without a charger connected to it, and will start on the button.
It does not have a radio fitted. If there is a radio, it is important to lock the steering, because the radio stays on standby and runs the battery down in a day or so.
(A friend found this out)
I cannot comment on the drain a BMW alarm generates, because, though my bike has one, I have never "armed" it in the 6.5 years I have owned the bike.

Drain milliamps. Should, in a car, be under 50ma to stop car battery going flat in a few weeks. Most are circa 20 - 30 ma from around 1 min. after locking.
0.1a = 100ma. Unacceptable in anything.
0.03a = 30ma. acceptable.
Myke
 
100mA (1/10 Amp) will use 15 amp-hours in 6 days.
Many batteries will be as good as flat in 1/2 that time so even 30mA is really quite a significant drain.
 
DrFarkoff said:
They usually go flat in 2 to 4 weeks depending in the battery
Click to expand...

Disagree. I have left mine for 2-3 months on more than one occasion without the battery going flat (or anywhere near flat). Often leave it for several weeks (more than 4) with never an issue.
 
The GS standard battery is 12aH and 68 ma draw is 1.632 aH per day so battery flat in 7 and a bit days. Ideally you shouldnt let the battery go beyond half empty because repewated deep discharge will bu66er it fast. So we're saying a 3 day life which most certainly is neither normal nor acceptable.

Even if they have the skills ( and a lot of dealer mechanics dont have them) finding the problem is expansive in terms of time. Best thing you can do is find it yourself by disconnecting possible items of equipment whilst having the ammeter in place.
 
Dealer recap, could be ecu, zfe, clocks or zfe is looking for an alarm.
Had bike apart unplugged alt, braking system and starter relay only thing that made a difference was the clocks, sent the current upto 1 A.
Was going to try something weird and use an infer red camera from work to look at the pcb of the zfe where i bent the plastic back.
See if i could find a duff chip from heat source

Thats last resort back to dealer first for more checking pos friday cheers
 
GS 911

Do you know anyone with a gs 911 ? check for faults if none do a reset of adaptions , I had one a work with an issue this cured the issue. Not saying it will yours but worth a try.
Not the same as a BMSK etc.
(My own F650GS had a parasitic draw in the bms-c similar to your draw , at the moment I have swapped it over with a spare one and it is fine, I will take my unit apart to see what my issue is I suspect a capacitor?)
 
ok had some more tinkering...
removed ZFE still has current drain...
removed ECU still has current drain...

basically when you connect the battery (key out if you want to call it that), a small red led flashes, lcd comes on for a few seconds and then all goes out.
exactly same even with ECU and ZFE in place remember no input or turn of key. so im sure its the clocks but how to fix that I dont know.

clock has i think (need to check) 4 wires possibly 2 for power and 2 can bus, so im thinking its a dodgy diode in the power or something, carnt be can bus as as zfe & ecu not plugged in

any ideas or threads to check??????

cheers
 
cant suggest any more specifics but you are tackling it the only way you can do by isolating individual components. I would have thought its unlikely to be anything left "switched on" in that 68 ma is a pretty low current to power anything much other than standby electronics like an alarm. But the low current also means it could be leakage for example a bare wire leaking to earth through a patch of dirt or corrosion.

If no one can provide an inspiration, you need to carry on isolating sections of the wiring loom and seeing which one of them is the 68ma drain.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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