Charging fuse on 2014 RT?

[hefy_jefy]

Bike is 2014 RTW owned and serviced by me from new, now done nearly 100,000 miles.

The battery charge warning came on, battery volts are low - its not charging.

 

The Haynes manual talks about a charging circuit fuse "clipped to the outside of the ECU".  Pulled the ECU but cannot find any fuse (its reputed to be 50A and sits under a cable cover)

Has anyone else come across this?

Thanks,

Geoff

 

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, hefy_jefy said:

Bike is 2014 RTW owned and serviced by me from new, now done nearly 100,000 miles.

The battery charge warning came on, battery volts are low - its not charging.

 

The Haynes manual talks about a charging circuit fuse "clipped to the outside of the ECU".  Pulled the ECU but cannot find any fuse (its reputed to be 50A and sits under a cable cover)

Has anyone else come across this?

Thanks,

Geoff

 

Evening Geoff

 

Look on page 143 or 144 of your riders manual. The fuse is inside a long black box affair.

 

Added: The red arrow showing "tab" is incorrect in the lower picture so use the top picture for cover-release-tab location.

 

 

 

[hefy_jefy]

Indeed I found that in the manual that came with the bike when I bought it, but there's nothing there!  Looking around it seems that BMW changed the design sometime after 2014 and maybe these early RTs didn't have the fuse.  It also seems that the alternator on these very early RTW bikes has been known to fail.

 

This is not good news...

Thanks for the response.

Geoff

 

[RadioFlyer]

The same change was made on the F800 bikes in 2016 or 2017. I'd like to see a wiring diagram of where that fuse is situated because I have read two accounts of where the 30A fuse blows when the accessory outlet is accidentally shorted out. This doesn't make a lot of sense to me because that port is (was?) controlled by the ZFE that limits it to 5A. 

[dirtrider]

15 hours ago, hefy_jefy said:

Indeed I found that in the manual that came with the bike when I bought it, but there's nothing there!  Looking around it seems that BMW changed the design sometime after 2014 and maybe these early RTs didn't have the fuse.  It also seems that the alternator on these very early RTW bikes has been known to fail.

 

This is not good news...

Thanks for the response.

Geoff

 

Morning Geoff

 

I have seen (well heard of anyhow)  the early 2014 1200GS not having the charging system fuse. So I suppose that same could be true on the 2014 1200RT.   Here is the thread on the one that showed up here on the site.

           

 https://www.bmwsporttouring.com/topic/107357-2014-r1200gs-fuse-exam/#comment-1147730

 

The early wethead alternators (actually stators) were a bit of a problem. 

 

You can check for 12v B+ at the regulator itself, if no charging system fuse then you should show 12v B+ at the regulator if you have continuity  between the regulator & the battery. So fuse, or no fuse, IF you DO have 12v at the regulator (engine not running) then even if it had a fuse the problem isn't in that charging wire or in the fuse.  

 

The regulator should have 2 connectors going into it, one 2 wire plug & one 3 wire plug. You might have to drop the regulator down to unplug the connectors. Unplug the 2 wire connector then put your voltmeter probes on the terminals in the unplugged 2 wire connector (not the regulator pins). Have your meter on the 20 volt DC scale. Polarity isn't an issue as it should show either + 12.xx volts or - 12.xx volts ( 12.xx being battery voltage).  If you show battery voltage on the 2 pin connector then your wiring (fuse or no fuse) between the regulator & battery is not your problem. Your charging problem is in the alternator or voltage regulator.  

 

With a simple volt meter you can test each if the 3 alternator stator legs for resistance, shorting to ground, opens, & AC voltage with engine running. If the above shows OK AND you have 12v to the regulator (engine not running) then you probably have a bad regulator. If something doesn't ring out OK on the above stator tests then you probably have a bad alternator (usually the stator). 

 

Personally I know of 3 riders that failed alternators on the 2014 1200 wethead (1 GS, 1 GS-A, & 1 RT) I have also heard of a few other early wetheads that failed  alternators but don't know (and didn't personally confirm) the circumstances, or the root cause of the no-charge issue. 

[dirtrider]

8 hours ago, RadioFlyer said:

The same change was made on the F800 bikes in 2016 or 2017. I'd like to see a wiring diagram of where that fuse is situated because I have read two accounts of where the 50A fuse blows when the accessory outlet is accidentally shorted out. This doesn't make a lot of sense to me because that port is (was?) controlled by the ZFE that limits it to 5A. 

Morning  RadioFlyer

 

On the 2016 F-800GS the 30 amp main fuse (charging fuse) is on top of the battery. This info is from a 2016 manual.

 

This is all I will say in this thread as we don't want to hijack this 2014 1200RT thread into a split F800GS/1200RT  thread. 

[strataj]

I had one of the first 14R1200RT's in the USA, taking delivery in mid February of 2014.  It didn't have the 50amp fuse, drove me nuts looking for something that wasn't there. 

[hefy_jefy]

The question is whether the lack of a 50A fuse caused the problem.  If say the rectified/regulator went short circuit?  I have seen images of a stator, those windings are pretty thick and would esily handle 50A.

[dirtrider]

13 hours ago, hefy_jefy said:

The question is whether the lack of a 50A fuse caused the problem.  If say the rectified/regulator went short circuit?  I have seen images of a stator, those windings are pretty thick and would esily handle 50A.

Evening Geoff

 

Probably not the lack of a 50 amp fuse. It helps in a short type situation but a lot of fixed output systems don't have fuses. If that (unfused) charging wire between the battery & regulator shorted to something then it could still get full current from the battery side so there would be damage in that circuit somewhere. 

 

The stator windings are pretty hearty but they can still short the windings if overheated, or if the winding insulation coating is compromised. 

 

The typical stator failure is usually a couple of the windings shorting out then turning black & then they quit producing current.

 

The regulator is more of a simple 3 phase rectifier with the regulator part just dumping excess output current into heat. It really doesn't regulate much, it more or less just saps off unneeded current & turns it into heat. There is some disruption to the next couple of stator coils in line but most just goes into heat. 

 

If you have 12v at the regulator from the battery then there is a very good chance the stator is the issue. 

 

You can pretty well verify stator condition with a voltage test at the 3 stator wires going into the regulator, or even just using a couple of H-7 headlight bulbs in series.