still on the battery problems :/

joe4550

joe4550

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ok so i have posted a couple of threads about this over the last few weeks but they have all been different reasons if you get my drift, this post is to combine them and try and get help from someone as I'm at the end of my rope on this problem before i have to give up and give it to the dealership or garage (and as i work 10 miles from where i live and only have the bike as transport i need the bike to be with them for the shortest time possible)


here goes... i have been having some problems with the electrical system on my 2008 GSA for about 2 months, where at random times the battery would loose charge when i tried to start it, just clicking then no start, so i would charge it up and then get the same a couple of weeks later then do the same and it would last me a week until it died and needed charged again.

so first thoughts the alternator, but its fine and pumping out plenty enough to charge the battery

second thought battery, even tho mine is only a 6 months old oddysay battery i thought it must be a dud so got a new one last week installed it and off i went...

until yesterday... same problem just clicks battery is reading about 7amp when I'm trying to start it up so not enough power to start the bike up, after a lot of swearing i charged the battery again over night, took off for work today, then go to leave work annnnnd FLAT FUCKING BATTERY!

called out the AA the guy came and hasn't a clue whats up with it, when trying to start its just clicking again and is reading 7-8 amps, he connects his booster, we start the bike up and start to test it,

alternator is fine and pumping out plenty enough to charge the bike etc at 14+ amps

0.1 amp drain on the battery when its turned off which he tells me is no worries and shouldn't cause any problems

the battery is charging and taking charge fine so no reason for it to die....


what the hell is wrong with this bike!?

any ideas would be great as I'm stumped!!
 
I think you're getting amps and volts mixed up...

If you're sure that it has a consistent 14.2-14.6 volts across the battery at a fast idle, then it can only be something which is still drawing current when the ignition is off. Could be intermittent? Any changes to standard wiring - extra fuse box, intercom etc?
 
Sounds like your battery is gradualy loosing charge overnight each time together with the starting-current in the morning, and your short run to work isn't sufficient to recharge it completely - therefore each day it is getting lower.

Root problem would appear to be the drain overnight. Check as per post above.

Al
 
I think .1 amp draw is too much. Disconnect the earth and connect a multimeter on low amps between the terminal and the lead. Pull each fuse one at a time and the meter should indicate which circuit is drawing current.
 
Littleredrooster is correct you are mixing up amps and volts, you should be looking at the volt scale when the engine is running you should get any where between 13 and 15 volts any more is too much.
The volt meter can be put across the battery during cranking and should not drop below 10volts.
To perform a leak test the battery would be disconnected and the Amp meter placed across the lead and the battery post. Very low reading of 0.02 ish are normal any thing above is a current drain.
If there is a drain most likely to be something added to the bike after manufacture, remove any leads other than the original pair.



Sent using witchcraft
 
Yeah I am mixing them up sorry it was late, have checked again as i took pictures of everything so I could check again to tell the garage, I meant volts not amps, and the drain is 0.01 not 0.1,

The only thing connected to my battery is 3 wires to the positive, one from the bike it's self, one from the charger cable and one that's always been on it that I am assuming is the front spots that are never turned on anyway, I'm only assuming it's the lights I have no idea, it has always been connected

There are 2 wires to the neg, the charger cable and the bike


Joe
 
No changes apart from the extra spot lights that are never turned on, it's just an extra cable to the battery,
 
OK - if there is low/negligible current drain overnight, and the charging voltage of the alternator is in excess of 14v.............

Then it must be the short journeys/starting current. (You don't have heated grips turned on, do you?)

Al
 
The engine is a big high compression one that is difficult to turn over. The battery is a small capacity one that is easily reduced to below the level at which it will turn the starter. And if you are doing short runs, the bike is outside overnight in the cold etc then the system is a bit marginal. However, your description suggests that the battery is OK and the alternator is trying to charge things up. And the starter is OK too or it wouldnt work when jumped. Clearly the alternator isnt succeeding in charging things up, so the first place I would look at is the wiring connections between alternator and battery. The alternator voltage is governed inside the alternator so it can still be generating the necessary volts with the current being much lower than needed because there is a corroded wiring joint. First step therefore is to trace the wiring, disconnect each joint, clean and grease them before reconnection. Dont forget to make sure that the starter button works OK.

If that doesnt cure the problem then you are into more exotic issues like high internal resistance in the alternator or mechanical issues with the starter
 
You wouldn't happen to be leaving it connected to an Optimate overnight connected thru the canbus?
 
Battery Drain ?

Ten miles each way daily will keep the battery charged on a 2008 bilke with a large alternator.
Check you don't have a short at the starter motor.
Dirty connections or a failing starter motor will have similar symptoms.
It happened to me last year & took a while to find.
 
have had simillair this week

have had similair problems this week, check to see if the ignition is randomly turning it'self on when parked up. Mine turned out to be a problem with abs unit,
P
 
It's possible there is a fault with the LH indicator switch, leading (sometimes) to the parking lights being switched on when the bike is parked up. Of course, you don't notice it when you return to the bike, and switching on the ignition cancels them. Don't know about the GS, but on the F800 it was quite possible for a bulky tankbag etc to foul the switch on full left lock, leading to the above.

That, or the battery is shagged (yes, I know it's been replaced). On a non-Canbus bike a DIY battery test can be done by fully charging the battery, then leaving it parked up for an hour with the headlight on. It should be able to cope with this and still have enough oomph left to start the bike. On a canbus bike, does the headlight remain on if you stop the motor using the kill-switch? If not, you'd need to rig up a temporary load of some sort using a suitable bulb/lamp.
 
Bendy toy said:
A voltmeter will tell you if the battery is getting enough charge.


Sent from a widget that can't spell.
Click to expand...

That's not quite true.

If the battery is shagged, it only tells you the charging potential. An ammeter tells you if it's being charged.
 
joe4550 said:
ok so i have posted a couple of threads about this over the last few weeks but they have all been different reasons if you get my drift, this post is to combine them and try and get help from someone as I'm at the end of my rope on this problem before i have to give up and give it to the dealership or garage (and as i work 10 miles from where i live and only have the bike as transport i need the bike to be with them for the shortest time possible)


here goes... i have been having some problems with the electrical system on my 2008 GSA for about 2 months, where at random times the battery would loose charge when i tried to start it, just clicking then no start, so i would charge it up and then get the same a couple of weeks later then do the same and it would last me a week until it died and needed charged again.

so first thoughts the alternator, but its fine and pumping out plenty enough to charge the battery

second thought battery, even tho mine is only a 6 months old oddysay battery i thought it must be a dud so got a new one last week installed it and off i went...

until yesterday... same problem just clicks battery is reading about 7amp when I'm trying to start it up so not enough power to start the bike up, after a lot of swearing i charged the battery again over night, took off for work today, then go to leave work annnnnd FLAT FUCKING BATTERY!

called out the AA the guy came and hasn't a clue whats up with it, when trying to start its just clicking again and is reading 7-8 amps, he connects his booster, we start the bike up and start to test it,

alternator is fine and pumping out plenty enough to charge the bike etc at 14+ amps

0.1 amp drain on the battery when its turned off which he tells me is no worries and shouldn't cause any problems

the battery is charging and taking charge fine so no reason for it to die....


what the hell is wrong with this bike!?

any ideas would be great as I'm stumped!!
Click to expand...

Do you have anything plugged into the accessory sockets when the bike is not being used?

The reason I ask is that some non BMW accessories 'fool' the bikes electronics into believing that there is a charger connected to the accessory socket - if the electronics believe this to be the case then the bikes processor and electronics stay 'alive' even though the the bike and sockets should have been shut down. This happened to my TC when I left my Garmin Quest II connected to the accessory socket by the seat when the bike was turned off - if I left the bike un-ridden for several days the battery was flat. It took me ages and a new battery before I realised what the cause was.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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