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BMW Battery Charger - won't


Rusty1945

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I did some searching of the archives, but couldn't find anything about this. My BMW battery charger, the one that plugs into the accessory port, worked all last winter and then recently just stopped working. The first, red led lights up, but no further led's light up no matter how long it's plugged in. Yes, I do know the correct sequence to plug it in - as I say, it worked fine all during the winter.

 

I thought maybe there's been a software update that disabled it; I did have my 6000 mile service in March. The dealer says no - bring the charger itself in for them to look at it.

 

Anyone shed any light on this? The charger seems like a pretty simple solid state device; what could have "broke" on it?

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Aluminum_Butt

Can't directly answer your question, but I thought it was worth mentioning that mine died recently. I took it back to the dealer where I bought it three years ago. The chargers have a 10 year warranty. They replaced it.

 

In my case, the unit was completey dead.

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Try pulling the cover back on the plug and checking the connections. The Battery Tenders occasionally have one of the wires get disconnected from the plug with exactly the symptoms you describe.

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2 things - have you verified that the charger works with a 12v test light? & does the accessory port work - check it fuse. I just fixed the charging system on one of our tractors yesterday - blow fuse. If the charger is working, make sure the fuse is getting power on both sides - a little corrosion goes a long way.

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I have a very similar problem. Unfortunately, mine seems to work when it is first connected, then shuts down afterwards. I brought it back to the dealer, who tested it and confirmed that it worked (which it did during their 15 minute test period).

 

Guess I'll take it back and tell them to use it for 24 hours before they conclude whether it works or not.

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My BMW charger did the same thing, lighting up the red LED which never went off. Took it to the dealer who replaced it on the spot... Buckster

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2 things - have you verified that the charger works with a 12v test light? & does the accessory port work - check it fuse.
Yes, yes - I run my gps from the acc port.
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My BMW charger did the same thing, lighting up the red LED which never went off. Took it to the dealer who replaced it on the spot... Buckster
Interesting. As we speak, my charger is at the dealer connected to a new bike. We'll see if any of the other leds light up after a few hours.

 

Good to know that it has a 10 year warranty.

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As we speak, my charger is at the dealer connected to a new bike. We'll see if any of the other leds light up after a few hours.

 

Good to know that it has a 10 year warranty.

Just checked with the dealer and still no additional leds are lit. I agreed to leave it overnight . . .
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I'm also having problems with my charger on my R1200RT. When last used a few weeks ago, it never climbed out of the first level 0-1/3 (the red indicator).

 

When I first bought the charger almost year ago, it would advance through the levels when charging and then error out after hitting level 3/3, usually within 24 hours. It was returned, tested and replaced, but a second charger produced the same results. The dealer told me that it should be OK.

 

The manual does indicate that the 71 60 7 688 865 is the correct charger for my bike, but last week I checked the BMW web site to see what new chargers were available, I found that the description for this charger indicates "For 2005 Model year and later with AGM battery", nothing about a gel battery.

 

I talked to a technician at a company that makes a popular charger and was told that gel batteries require a different charging profile. Now I wonder if my BMW charger is the correct one for this bike.

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ShovelStrokeEd

The primary charging device for your battery is still your motorcycle's charging system. So long as that is healthy and you ride the bike for 50 miles or more once a month or so, the external charger just flat isn't going to matter. There is no "charge profile" in your factory system. The alternator puts out current, the voltage regulator, built in, controls how much gets through to your battery.

 

Every couple of years, 3 to 5, replace the battery, or don't and wait for it to break down on its own.

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Could be a fault in the charger, or if you have a shorted cell in your battery the battery voltage will never rise enough to get out of the 'bulk' charging stage so the initial charge light will always stay on (many chargers have a safety time-out device that will shut it down after x hours in this state.) Check your resting battery voltage, should be at least 11.5 to 12.5 volts. If it's below 11 you may have a sick battery.

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Thanks.

 

The profile that I was referring to was actually for the battery charger, not the bike's charging system.

 

I had left my key on and ran the battery down low a few weeks ago. After noticing that the BMW charger appeared to be stuck on the first level the next day, I took it to a local major shop. They wouldn't charge it because it was a gel battery. That got me looking around and making calls.

 

The technician that I mentioned was from Deltran who manufactures the Battery Tenders. They have two versions of the Battery Tender Plus, one for wet or AGM, and another for gel batteries. I contacted them to ask about the differences. I forgot his exact words, but the impression he gave me was that their chargers for gel batteries were a little less aggressive. I'll contact them again to get the exact details.

 

The BMW site does list another charger "Programmed specifically for gel type batteries that were standard equipment on 2004 model year motorcycles. Will also safely charge older "flooded" lead-acid batteries and newer AGM batteries. Comes complete with BMW accessory socket plug and jumper clips... ". It also mentions "NOTE: 2005 Model year and later, disconnect the battery before charging".

 

I wonder if I ever need to charge my battery again if I should avoid charging through the accessory port?

 

Thanks again,

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Update - my dealer called Sat morning to say, "Your charger is fine - all led's are lit. Must be something wrong with your bike". So I rode to the dealer, got my charger back and told them I'd call to make an appointment later.

 

On a whim, I connected the charger to my bike that night - and low and behold, within an hour the 1/3 was lit. And by Sunday morning, the 3/3 led was shining brightly! WTF? So now it seems to be working and for the life of me, I can't explain how/why tongue.gif

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John Bentall

I plug my non-BMW charger into the rear accessory socket and sometimes the connection was poor. I used a non-metallic probe to realign the copper contacts in the socket and everything is OK again.

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