R1200GS/BMW Battery Charger Fix

[gfspencer]

Hope I’m not repeating something here –

I have an R1200GS and the special BMW battery charger. The battery charger worked fine before the firmware “upgrades” that crapped up the GPS and the battery charger. Firmware upgrade V.7 fixed the GPS problems but it did not solve my battery problems. (The battery would charge – sometimes – but when it reached a full charge it would shut down and would not maintain a trickle charge.)

Yesterday I got a BMW “Adapter Lead”. Basically it’s a wire with two alligator clips on one end and a BMW “cigarette lighter” plug on the other. Attach the alligator clips to the battery, plug your BMW charger into the “cigarette lighter” plug and plug the battery charger into the wall. Now everything works fine. The battery charges and maintains a trickle charge.

If you wanted to permanently attach this to your bike it would be easy to do. Just get rid of the alligator clips, add crimp terminals and attach them to your battery. I’m thinking about doing that to power my heated vest.

It costs about $29 US. The instruction sheet reads Part Number ECE 7 688 865. The box reads 71 60 7 690 235.

 

[beacon]

Nippy does one for about £9, fixed it to the beak ADV style.

 

[Brian ROSEN]

1200 GS Battery charger

You really don't need all this complication ! For once on a BMW the battery is easily to get at - so just remove the seat and attach an ordinary charger to the terminals; If it is a low charge (such as from an 'optimate') no problems; if you want to charge it faster it may be wiser to disconnect the terminals. When you reconnect 1. reset the clock, 2. switch on (don't start up!) and open the throttle wide once or twice and all is re-set (so it says in the book !)

 

[gfspencer]

You really don't need all this complication ! For once on a BMW the battery is easily to get at - so just remove the seat and attach an ordinary charger to the terminals; If it is a low charge (such as from an 'optimate') no problems; if you want to charge it faster it may be wiser to disconnect the terminals. When you reconnect 1. reset the clock, 2. switch on (don't start up!) and open the throttle wide once or twice and all is re-set (so it says in the book !)

What complication? I remove the seat, attach the alligator clips to the battery terminals and plug the battery into the wall socket. I’m done.

I don’t have to disconnect/reconnect the battery or reset the clock or open the throttle.

Your way is fine but I was just offering an alternative to those of us who already have the BMW battery charger and don’t want to add an auxiliary plug to the bike. (I would rather use the BMW battery charger than an "ordinary" battery charger for this particular battery . . . . but that's just me.)

 

[Brian ROSEN]

Complication

No,sorry - you misunderstood me. What I meant was that it is not necessary to buy a BMW chrger (which costs sonsiderably more than an 'ordinary' one.) and then adapt it. The BMW one is necessary if you wish to charge through the socket - which on previous models was really the only solution. I realise that you already had the charger but for anyone without it is definitely not necessary.

 

[gfspencer]

No,sorry - you misunderstood me. What I meant was that it is not necessary to buy a BMW chrger (which costs sonsiderably more than an 'ordinary' one.) and then adapt it. The BMW one is necessary if you wish to charge through the socket - which on previous models was really the only solution. I realise that you already had the charger but for anyone without it is definitely not necessary.

No problem, Brian. Are you sure that it is okay to use a regular charger? My dealer said that the BMW battery takes a special charger because of the AGS (absorbed gas mat) battery. (Of course they probably wanted to sell me the "special BMW charger". )

 

[GSmonkey]

(Of course they probably wanted to sell me the "special BMW charger". )

.....I'm sure that's not true I use a 'normal' optimate with no bother. Bike did not burst into flames or explode.

 

[Yoda]

+1 on a "normal" Optimate. No problems.

 

[Brian ROSEN]

Now I start to worry!

I am writing from France, a few others from the UK, but the bloke with the problem (gfspencer is it?) is in the States - and don't they fit gel batteries there ? If so do WE know what we are talking about?

 

[gfspencer]

I am writing from France, a few others from the UK, but the bloke with the problem (gfspencer is it?) is in the States - and don't they fit gel batteries there ? If so do WE know what we are talking about?

Our batteries (in the States) are AGM (absorbed gas mat). I don't know what you have but I found the following here - http://www.r1200gs.info/misc/BMW-charger.html

Older BMW models all used flooded (wet), or more recently, gel batteries. AGM betteries have all the benefits of gel batteries but can take more abuse. They also have several advantages over both gel and flooded batteries, at about the same cost as a gel battery (2-3x the cost of a flooded battery).

They cannot spill, even if broken.

They are non-hazardous (meaning shipping costs should be lower).

They are practically immune to freezing damage.

They have a low self-discharge (1-3%/month) so they can sit unused for longer periods without charging than other battery types.

Battery charging takes place in 3 basic stages: Bulk, Absorption, and Float. Most garage and consumer (automotive) type battery chargers are bulk charge only, and have little (if any) voltage regulation. They are fine for a quick boost to low batteries, but not to leave on for long periods.
The R1200GS has a "feature" where the on-board computer shuts off the power to the aux power outlet unless the battery needs charging. Once the battery is charged, it disconnects the aux power outlet and won't reactivate it unless the battery charger "signals" the computer to turn the outlet back on. Apparently, the BMW charger will do this, and other brands won't.

Deltran makes the BMW charger for the Gel replacement batteries which BMW sells for the R11xxGS series. It's a relabeled 021-0156. Deltran does not make the $120 charger for the R1200GS. For the Yuasa AGM battery in the R1200GS, you need the BatteryTenderPlus model 021-0128. The difference between the two chargers is that the gel charger uses .2 less voltage during the absorbtion stage of the charging cycle to avoid cracking the gel matrix in the battery. It would probably be OK to use the gel charger on an AGM battery, but not the other way around. The correct charger for the 12GS is the model 021-0128.