Optimate 4 in Canbus Mode - advice please

[paulR]

I recently bought a dual program Optimate 4 to use to charge my 1200GS.

When I use it directly connected to the battery in the standard mode it performs as per the instructions, ie alternating between the voltage retention test (led #5 flashing) and the maintenance charge (led #5 steady on).

However, when I change the program to can-bus and connect the charger via the BMW socket, during the maintenance charge cycle LED #8 flashes with led #5 steady on. Is this correct? The instructions make no mention of LED #8 flashing during the maintenance charge. I’ve tried the charger on 2 bikes with the same result

 

[Fat Biker 66]

Paul

Mine does this for a few minutes and then will 8,9 and 10 will light up and 5 stay on. I guess it is part of some sort of maintenance cycle. I have no problems when starting and Voltage is always 14+

I would say make sure Sat Nav is not connected or on the bike cradle and you activate the optimate within 20 secs of turning off the ignition.

My degree is in Microbiology so perhaps some one better qualified may have different thoughts
Mike
Mike

 

[paulR]

Thanks for the reply Mike. On mine, LED #8 flashes for the whole 30 minutes of the maintenance charge, I wasn’t sure if that was indicating some sort of fault. I’ll try switching the ignition on and off before plugging in the charger to see if that makes a difference.

 

[Deleted account 191119001]

I believe I done something like this with my Optimate 4, but in the end I just put a pigtail on the battery, far more useful if you need to pump up tyres as well.

1. Turn the ignition of the motorcycle to "ON." (Do not start) if keyless just turn on do not start engine
2. Connect the battery charger to the "On Board Socket" first, then connect the charger to the mains outlet.
3. Turn the ignition key to the "OFF" position.

 

[casbar]

I believe I done something like this with my Optimate 4, but in the end I just put a pigtail on the battery, far more useful if you need to pump up tyres as well.

1. Turn the ignition of the motorcycle to "ON." (Do not start) if keyless just turn on do not start engine
2. Connect the battery charger to the "On Board Socket" first, then connect the charger to the mains outlet.
3. Turn the ignition key to the "OFF" position.

I use an Optimate 4 on my RT LC. You do not have to touch the ignition, there is no need to open the electrics on the bike. I switch the bike off, when the can bus has switched off, plug the Optimate it. It is clever enough to open the circuit to charge, that is why its can bus compatible. When mine is doing its business, I have one steady green and one flashing green (maintenance). Then it will switch to orange and eventually go to the state described above. Very rarely do I see two solid greens.

 

[Deleted account 191119001]

I use an Optimate 4 on my RT LC. You do not have to touch the ignition, there is no need to open the electrics on the bike. I switch the bike off, when the can bus has switched off, plug the Optimate it. It is clever enough to open the circuit to charge, that is why its can bus compatible. When mine is doing its business, I have one steady green and one flashing green (maintenance). Then it will switch to orange and eventually go to the state described above. Very rarely do I see two solid greens.[/QUOTE

You could be well right I just done it that way as it was what I read on the forums, however do you take your satnav off when you plug in the charger in the canbus, and another thought did you have to put the Optimate 4 in Canbus mode


OK update just went to the garage plugged in my Optimate 4 in the Canbus socket, nothing but a green light, then put Optimate 4 into Canbus mode plugged in to Canbus socket then to the mains, and all works like casbar says above, so make sure Optimate 4 is in Canbus mode by touching crocodile clips together for about ten seconds, then plug into mains wait about ten seconds, unplug from mains, then put canbus adapter on and plug into bike and all is clear as mud.

 

[casbar]

I use an Optimate 4 on my RT LC. You do not have to touch the ignition, there is no need to open the electrics on the bike. I switch the bike off, when the can bus has switched off, plug the Optimate it. It is clever enough to open the circuit to charge, that is why its can bus compatible. When mine is doing its business, I have one steady green and one flashing green (maintenance). Then it will switch to orange and eventually go to the state described above. Very rarely do I see two solid greens.[/QUOTE

You could be well right I just done it that way as it was what I read on the forums, however do you take your satnav off when you plug in the charger in the canbus, and another thought did you have to put the Optimate 4 in Canbus mode


OK update just went to the garage plugged in my Optimate 4 in the Canbus socket, nothing but a green light, then put Optimate 4 into Canbus mode plugged in to Canbus socket then to the mains, and all works like casbar says above, so make sure Optimate 4 is in Canbus mode by touching crocodile clips together for about ten seconds, then plug into mains wait about ten seconds, unplug from mains, then put canbus adapter on and plug into bike and all is clear as mud.

I normally take my sat nav off the bike, found that if you leave it on the bike, it is not off, its in standby mode. So the battery will eventually run down. To turn it off, when I switch the bike off, I cancel the switch off, remove sat nav, then switch off via the button. You could let it switch off in the cradle, then touch the button once its off the bike to wake it up, then switch it off again by pushing the button.

 

[Deleted account 191119001]

I normally take my sat nav off the bike, found that if you leave it on the bike, it is not off, its in standby mode. So the battery will eventually run down. To turn it off, when I switch the bike off, I cancel the switch off, remove sat nav, then switch off via the button. You could let it switch off in the cradle, then touch the button once its off the bike to wake it up, then switch it off again by pushing the button.

Ok cheers yep good tip I found that out already about the battery discharging in the Nav6 and it takes a good day or 2 to fully charge on the mains.

 

[DC]

hmmmmm

All I do is push the optimate 4 plug into the accessory socket, turn on the charger and watch ! It automatically goes into can bus mode. starts at the bottom orange then works to the top orange in seconds, then goes to green on the top right hand corner... I dont leave the charger on 24 / 7 if the bike is not used for a fortnight, i turn it on for a day or so just to top it up.

The optimal 4 is a dual charger so should be able to detect if the bike is canbus or not. If it is not it goes into to non canbus mode and the left green light charges up

 

[Deleted account 191119001]

hmmmmm

All I do is push the optimate 4 plug into the accessory socket, turn on the charger and watch ! It automatically goes into can bus mode. starts at the bottom orange then works to the top orange in seconds, then goes to green on the top right hand corner... I dont leave the charger on 24 / 7 if the bike is not used for a fortnight, i turn it on for a day or so just to top it up.

The optimal 4 is a dual charger so should be able to detect if the bike is canbus or not. If it is not it goes into to non canbus mode and the left green light charges up

Yep you are correct but some Optimate 4,s need to be put in Canbus mode first, mine does and it is fairly new, I just done it several times in the garage to check, it will not do Canbus automatically, you have to touch the crocodile clips together for about ten seconds, then take the plug out of the mains, and then attach the canbus socket into the optimate 4, and then the bike, and then the mains and all is good, if you want to use crocodile clips or pigtail, just reverse the procedure

 

[polecat]

hmmmmm

All I do is push the optimate 4 plug into the accessory socket, turn on the charger and watch ! It automatically goes into can bus mode. starts at the bottom orange then works to the top orange in seconds, then goes to green on the top right hand corner... I dont leave the charger on 24 / 7 if the bike is not used for a fortnight, i turn it on for a day or so just to top it up.

The optimal 4 is a dual charger so should be able to detect if the bike is canbus or not. If it is not it goes into to non canbus mode and the left green light charges up

Out of interest why don't you keep it connected all the time?

 

[Deleted account 191119001]

As for myself I have it connected all the time at the moment as it is -15 outside and bike is not ridden, but as soon as weather picks up a little 10 celsius or better bike is on the road so no need

 

[grimo]

I don't keep mine connected all the time either. I don't have an alarm and I just top it up every month or so. If and when I take the battery out over the winter period I just charge it overnight and store it fully charged but off the optimate.
Although optimate is designed to keep your battery topped up costantly without damage I still believe it's better to store it off charge and top up every couple of months when off the bike.
my understanding is when a battery is fully charge it won't easily freeze, although I do store mine in the garage where it would be slightly warmer I suppose.

 

[DC]

Yep you are correct but some Optimate 4,s need to be put in Canbus mode first, mine does and it is fairly new, I just done it several times in the garage to check, it will not do Canbus automatically, you have to touch the crocodile clips together for about ten seconds, then take the plug out of the mains, and then attach the canbus socket into the optimate 4, and then the bike, and then the mains and all is good, if you want to use crocodile clips or pigtail, just reverse the procedure

I purchased mine about 18 months ago, if yours is newer than that I would have thought yours would automatically dectect canbus? There must be two versions of the optimate 4 then .

I only leave it on for a short while on the GS. I have a couple of other bikes ,non canbus and swap the same optimate between all three of them. So they all get topped up ready for the road

 

[casbar]

I purchased mine about 18 months ago, if yours is newer than that I would have thought yours would automatically dectect canbus? There must be two versions of the optimate 4 then .

I only leave it on for a short while on the GS. I have a couple of other bikes ,non canbus and swap the same optimate between all three of them. So they all get topped up ready for the road

AFAIK all Optimate 4 Canbus chargers can be switch from Canbus to non Canbus, mine was delivered in Canbus mode. Look at the instructions, all will be revealed

 

[Country boy]

I found it better to fit another Din socket direct to the battery, that way I can use it to keep the battery charged or when out and about I can use the socket for stuff like a tyre pump. As I have two bikes one canbus and one not, for me it's the easiest solution.

 

[fred_jb]

The manual warns against connecting a charger directly to the battery, unless you disconnect the battery from the bike. If you don't, they say the bike's electronics could be damaged. Not sure I believe that, but just in case I bought a CANBUS compatible charger so that I could charge via the bike's DIN socket as recommended. In the unlikely event of a fried ECU a warranty claim might be refused if they suspected, or could prove, damage was due to a charger.

I am sure we have had this discussion before, but even when charging via the DIN socket, once the handshake is performed which allows charge to flow, the electronics are still exposed to anything the charger does so I don't really see much difference in the two methods unless the bike actively monitors what is going into the socket and shuts it down if it exceeds safe limits.

I also have an Optimate tail connected directly to the battery but that is just used to power my air compressor.

 

[paulR]

I sent an email about my flashing LED #8 to TecMate who make the Optimate, here’s their reply...

Good Morning Paul,

That is 100% normal. That is to counter our "communication" we have to do with your CANBUS.

The LED#8 will flash because we use a signal to your canbus, and that takes a tiny bit of power to do so. If you connect directly onto the battery, we do not have to communicate to the CANBUS, and so the LED#8 does not come on.

Both methods are 100% working like they should.

Kind Regards,

Bart Huys | Sales Representative

So mine is working as it should

 

[Deleted account 191119001]

I sent an email about my flashing LED #8 to TecMate who make the Optimate, here’s their reply...

Good Morning Paul,

That is 100% normal. That is to counter our "communication" we have to do with your CANBUS.

The LED#8 will flash because we use a signal to your canbus, and that takes a tiny bit of power to do so. If you connect directly onto the battery, we do not have to communicate to the CANBUS, and so the LED#8 does not come on.

Both methods are 100% working like they should.

Kind Regards,

Bart Huys | Sales Representative

So mine is working as it should

Cheers for the update

 

[casbar]

I sent an email about my flashing LED #8 to TecMate who make the Optimate, here’s their reply...

Good Morning Paul,

That is 100% normal. That is to counter our "communication" we have to do with your CANBUS.

The LED#8 will flash because we use a signal to your canbus, and that takes a tiny bit of power to do so. If you connect directly onto the battery, we do not have to communicate to the CANBUS, and so the LED#8 does not come on.

Both methods are 100% working like they should.

Kind Regards,

Bart Huys | Sales Representative

So mine is working as it should

Sorry, if I'd thought I could have saved you the trouble, I asked the same question a couple of years ago, that is how I knew mine was fine