2008 RT 1200 R Parasitic Draw Problems?

[AndyInLZ]

Looking for some help/affirmation.

 

My 2008 RT battery is going dead--or dead enough to not excite the computer and crank the bike.  The clock, etc. also resets.  This is with a new fully charged Odyssey battery.  It takes about two weeks of no riding/no charging for the symptom to appear.  This may have been going on since I bought the bike from the OO in 2009, but has been masked by near-constant use of a Battery Tender/riding/or both.

 

I see a parasitic draw (measured at the battery negative terminal, using 2 amp DCA scale) from the stock BMW harness that starts out at .199, quickly drops to .079, and just as quickly drops to .004.  Normal?

 

The OO also installed a Centech AP-1 and associated OEM switched relay to control two circuits--an added amplifier/speakers combo hidden in the fairing and LED blinking additional brake lights.  I have further added an RPT oil cooler fan controlled by an BMW accessory handlebar switch as a third circuit.  All three circuits are separately fused.  Everything seems correctly installed.

 

When I measure parasitic draw for the Centech (also measured at the battery negative terminal, using 2 amp DCA scale) it reads a constant .225 with fuses in line for all 3 accessories (I can hear the Centech relay click when I make the connection with my meter between the battery post and the Centech negative wire).  This  draw drops to a constant .060 (with a small bit of wandering) if I take out the fuse for the amplifier/speakers.  I also no longer hear a "now connected" scratching/sparking noise from the speakers after pulling the controlling fuse (I DO hear a "now connected" scratching/sparking noise when the fuse is in place and I insert my meter in line).  The other two fuses have no bearing on the constant .060, regardless of whether they are in-line or removed.

 

So, it seems to me that the Centech AP-1 has an unacceptably high draw with the fuse connected for the amplifier/speaker circuit.  Agree?

 

But isn't it odd that the Centech allows ANY amps to pass through this circuit before the relay closes?   Is this a "feature", or am I having Centech problems?

 

If this is correctly diagnosed, it seems that my options are to:

 

1) Keep riding often and/or plugged into a Battery Tender;

 

2) Remove the fuse for the amplifier/speaker circuit when not riding;

 

3) Place some kind of a real on/off switch into the amplifier/speaker circuit (which I only use for announcing GPS directions from a phone-driven app such as Kurviger); or

 

4) Contact Centech and see if this "feature" is an early failure symptom of the relay, fuse box, etc.

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks in advance!

[dirtrider]

3 hours ago, AndyInLZ said:

Looking for some help/affirmation.

 

My 2008 RT battery is going dead--or dead enough to not excite the computer and crank the bike.  The clock, etc. also resets.  This is with a new fully charged Odyssey battery.  It takes about two weeks of no riding/no charging for the symptom to appear.  This may have been going on since I bought the bike from the OO in 2009, but has been masked by near-constant use of a Battery Tender/riding/or both.

 

I see a parasitic draw (measured at the battery negative terminal, using 2 amp DCA scale) from the stock BMW harness that starts out at .199, quickly drops to .079, and just as quickly drops to .004.  Normal?

 

The OO also installed a Centech AP-1 and associated OEM switched relay to control two circuits--an added amplifier/speakers combo hidden in the fairing and LED blinking additional brake lights.  I have further added an RPT oil cooler fan controlled by an BMW accessory handlebar switch as a third circuit.  All three circuits are separately fused.  Everything seems correctly installed.

 

When I measure parasitic draw for the Centech (also measured at the battery negative terminal, using 2 amp DCA scale) it reads a constant .225 with fuses in line for all 3 accessories (I can hear the Centech relay click when I make the connection with my meter between the battery post and the Centech negative wire).  This  draw drops to a constant .060 (with a small bit of wandering) if I take out the fuse for the amplifier/speakers.  I also no longer hear a "now connected" scratching/sparking noise from the speakers after pulling the controlling fuse (I DO hear a "now connected" scratching/sparking noise when the fuse is in place and I insert my meter in line).  The other two fuses have no bearing on the constant .060, regardless of whether they are in-line or removed.

 

So, it seems to me that the Centech AP-1 has an unacceptably high draw with the fuse connected for the amplifier/speaker circuit.  Agree?

 

But isn't it odd that the Centech allows ANY amps to pass through this circuit before the relay closes?   Is this a "feature", or am I having Centech problems?

 

If this is correctly diagnosed, it seems that my options are to:

 

1) Keep riding often and/or plugged into a Battery Tender;

 

2) Remove the fuse for the amplifier/speaker circuit when not riding;

 

3) Place some kind of a real on/off switch into the amplifier/speaker circuit (which I only use for announcing GPS directions from a phone-driven app such as Kurviger); or

 

4) Contact Centech and see if this "feature" is an early failure symptom of the relay, fuse box, etc.

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks in advance!

Evening Andy

 

That 4 mA parasitic drain  is just a little high with all circuits turned off. (max spec is--  1200 RT (K26)--  4.9 mA key in R position, &  2.5 mA with key-off after computer controlled circuits time out.  

 

But the old 1200CL had a normal 3.9 mA key-off patristic draw & those didn't run the battery down in 2 weeks.

 

Your issue does seem to point to your Centech AP-1 (I suggest that you call the  Centech  help line on this. 

 

Do you have an older GPS connected to that motorcycle? If so sometimes those can come back on when your computer controlled accessory sockets shut down. 

 

Also, if you have any fulltime accessory sockets hooked directly to your battery then sometimes those can turn greenish inside due  to  constant current & water contaminates, then that green corrosion can leak current to ground when damp.    

[AndyInLZ]

Thanks for the quick reply.

 

No older GPS is attached---there used to be a circa 2000 Garmin attached to the BMW GPS harness plug, but first the maps were no longer available and then it had problems acquiring satellites.....it often thought I'd moved across the country on the sly!  It is on the shelf, collecting dust.

 

I have not directly wired an accessory socket, as mine seem to handle whatever loads are thrown at them.

 

I will treat the BMW load as close-enough-to-spec, and reach out to Centech.

 

If they declare their product within specs, I will then switch the speaker/amp though my accessory RPT switches (one of which is currently unused).

 

Thanks for your always insightful and experienced responses......we are all the better for your participation here.