Battery question

[robowis]

I have a new bmw gel battery and the bmw charger. The bike has been sitting in the garage for a couple of weeks. A cold wisconsin garage I went out to start it up today and a couple of weak cranks and dead. What the hell happened. It has been on the charger all year. I looked at the charger and the light was blinking and it should have been steady. Do these chargers not work in cold weather? Now I guess I will have to take out the battery and bring it inside to charge. Is there anything I should know before removing the battery? Thanks for any help.

[jazzbass]

Do you have a voltmeter so you can verify the charger is outputing?
Should be about 13.5 volts.

Are you charging through the accessory jack? Could be a blown fuse!

[robowis]

I have a volt meter but have to get a battery for that too. How ironic. Yes I am charging through the accessory jack. I didn't know it had a fuse though.

[Jinks]

Don't know about the BMW charger, but the Battery Tenders (both reg. & junior) have an issue with the in-line connector for the different ends. They get loose & need to be tightened to make contact. If they lose contact after being connected they will at times give false indications.

The BMW adaptor for the accessory port will also develop a loose wire now & then. Unscrew it & check the connections inside.

[robowis]

Ok, checked out the charger with a voltmeter everything is ok on that end. I checked the battery voltage it registered at 12.42. I put the charger back on this time with the alligator clips directly on the posts and the steady charge light came on. Within about 10 minutes the light went to green for stowage on the charger. How many volts does the battery have to have to start the bike?? I am thinking a fuse blew on the accessory port, or perhaps I didn't connect something right when I had the bike apart last month when I was repairing my broken shift linkage. It was in a cold garage at the time and I prolly missed something. I will have to break out the manual and try to find where the fuse for that dang thing is..Thanks guys for any help.

[jazzbass]

Looking to the rear of the bike it's the fuse compartment to the left
of the seat latch, third one down 15 amp.

If the battery was discharged that deep it would probably be best to leave the charger on for 24 hours before starting. Unless you had to ride it, Which
isn't the case in Ohio either.

That should do it for ya, Dont ask me how I know!!!

[Ron_Kendall]

Don't know about the BMW charger, but the Battery Tenders (both reg. & junior) have an issue with the in-line connector for the different ends. They get loose & need to be tightened to make contact. If they lose contact after being connected they will at times give false indications.

I had that same problem... so I soldered them... Lock-Tight I think would also work.

[robowis]

Larry I was thinking I should leave it on overnight,just in case. Doesn't look good for a ride here either.Getting 5 to 6 inches of the fluffy stuff as we speak. I was going to ride it today before the snow started to fly,taking it to a nice heated garage for the winter. Guess I'll just have to wait until some of the stuff melts. Thanks a bunch for your help I appreciate it.

[Jinks]

I had that same problem... so I soldered them... Lock-Tight I think would also work.

Makes 'em hard to swap to other leads...............

[Ron_Kendall]

Makes 'em hard to swap to other leads...............

Yes...if you ever need to do that?

[rglassma]

I have a bmw gel battery charge, a battery tender. I had a problem with the hot and ground lead for the bmw acc. connector. It finally got to the point where it wouldn't work at all. For 14.00 + shipping I ordered another one from Sierra BMW in NV. Just got it yesterday. No more blinking red light. You may just want to get yours replaced as well.

Good luck.

[nplenzick]

Rob,
What BMW charger do you have? I have a blue one #72607679040 which I bought when I had my CLC and the newer grey #71607688865 that I got when I purchased my 1200 GS. I've been using the blue charger for the past few weeks and have had no problems, even when playing the radio in the garage the charger would go from maintainance to charge in a few minutes. A few days ago I started using the grey charger just to see how it would work it seemed fine at first but when I check the following day I had a fault code in the charger. I unplugged the charger and repluged it in and it was fine. Yesterday when I was cleaning the bike and playing the radio it never went into the charge mode even after 30 min.........put the blue charger on went to charge right away. It seem if the older style works better with the LT, at least for me.

[BkrK12]

Ok, checked out the charger with a voltmeter everything is ok on that end. I checked the battery voltage it registered at 12.42. I put the charger back on this time with the alligator clips directly on the posts and the steady charge light came on. Within about 10 minutes the light went to green for stowage on the charger. How many volts does the battery have to have to start the bike?? I am thinking a fuse blew on the accessory port, or perhaps I didn't connect something right when I had the bike apart last month when I was repairing my broken shift linkage. It was in a cold garage at the time and I prolly missed something. I will have to break out the manual and try to find where the fuse for that dang thing is..Thanks guys for any help.


Just a thought, if you had the tupperware off, did you remember to plug the lead for the accessory socket back in?

[taylorjn]

I noticed that the accessory port on the front of the trunk on my 02 is connected only when the ignition is on or in the 'radio' position. The one over the left foot is hot always.

HTH

[petepeterson]

Hmmmm,, I have the small tender that BMW sells just for the gell battery in the LT (Mines an 05) I left it in a cold in winter, hot in summer garage on the tender for ten months, started in October like I had just rode it the day before............Regards Pete

[kellenbenz]

Rob,

When you say you were charging through the accessory port, which one were you using? It is my understanding that only the one in front of your left foot is hot all the time for that purpose....Just in case...HTH

Ron

[robowis]

Ok just went out to the garage and checked the charger. All it says on the front is ADVANCED BATTERY CHARGING SYSTEM. and under that it says programmed for the BMW gel battery. It is a black metal unit. Since I replaced the accessory plug with the alligator clips and hooked them up directly to the battery the green stowage light stays on, meaning it is fully charged. Thinking back when I had the tupperware off I could swear that I did re-connect the lead but can't be 100 % sure. Maybe the lead for the charger is bad. If I stick a voltmeter in the accessory jack will I get a reading from there?? I have been charging through the jack by the left foot. I forgot about the one in the back by the trunk. Once the damn snow melts on my street I can ride it to my warm storage area and look at it more closely.Thanks to all who responded you are the greatest.