After shelling out what I consider a lot of cash for a battery tender, it lasted a little over three years. I have Deltran tenders that are working after ten years plus. I called BMW, and I will say they were polite, but they told me that after the two year parts warranty is passed, you are s*&t out of luck. I am extremely disappointed. I have been a good OEM after market customer. I even bought a new BMW battery the other day (before the dealer told me that the tender was bad). After paying mega bucks for clothes and pieces, you'd think they would at least do something.... I guess I'll just go the traditional tender wired straight to battery. I'm not paying the cash for unit that doesn't hold up. I must not be the exception, because I have looked on Ebay and seen some for sale as "no longer works. For parts only." I may write the head of BMW Motorrad USA to let him know how I feel. Probably a waste of time. After being such a fan, and a Harley convert for over six years, this plain stinks. Please let me know if I need to use a CAN BUS tender and should not use a regular one that is straight wired. The OEM looks cool, but I want one that lasts! Thanks,
It's hard to beat the Deltran Tenders. They seem to work very well and forever! I've had mine for many years and use it on several bikes with no issues. As a side benefit, you now will have a directly wired connection to the battery for accessories like an air pump or heated clothing. Just make sure to add a fuse to the circuit. On my GS I added an outlet on the beak that goes directly to the battery with a 15 amp fuse. I use the DIN plug adapter on the charger. I don't remember if it came with the DIN plug or if I built it but since I have DIN plugs on all my bikes for the compressor and GPS it work on all of them. Gerg
Check out the Optimate 4 Dual Program. It has a mode specifically for charging a BMW over the CANBUS. And a mode for charging regular batteries. If you go with a Battery Tender, you might want to go with the Battery Tender Junior. It has a lower maximum current than the regular BT. The regular BT, can, under certain conditions, supply too much charging current and F up a gel battery.
Writing BMW IS a waste of your time.. If you have a spare plug port on your bike go get the BMW socket and wire it directly to the battery. Easy, looks factory, and is just plain better than worrying about when the canbus shuts the power off to the (stock) sockets. Put the battery tender on it whenever you want. If you don't have a spare plug port you can still get the plug (check out "Powerlet") and mount it wherever you desire...in a panel, on a bracket...wherever..
I have a can-bus compatible charger and the whole can-bus compatibility thing is highly over rated. I charge directly to the battery and it works much better. The charger doesn't have to keep opening and reopening the can-bus each time it wants to test and/or charge the battery. The Optimate does a voltage retention test every 30 minutes and the test is much more accurate when the can-bus is not part of the equation. Save your money, can-bus compatibility is an over priced non essential hassle in my opinion.
Having CANBUS compatibility may be of no special value, however, from my reading, having a charger that is Gel battery compatible can be very worthwhile. My understanding is this: A gel battery can be messed up by feeding it too high a voltage when recharging it. And its max safe voltage is lower than for a LA (lead acid) battery. Generally, any Battery Tender or other motorcycle-specific charger will work fine. But, if the battery is especially dead, then some chargers will supply more voltage than is good for a gel battery. For example, a Battery Tender Junior has a max charging current of 0.75amps. That is okay for a gel battery. A Battery Tender Plus will supply 1.25amps. If the battery is dead enough to cause the Tender to run at max output, it can damage a gel battery. http://batterytender.com/products/motorcycle.html With the Optimate 4 Dual Program, if you put it in "BMW mode", it will disable the Turbo (22V) desulfation mode and only use the Pulse mode. http://www.tecmate-int.com/optimate4dual_detail.php http://www.tecmate.com/u_optimate_4_dual.php Personally, I've been a Battery Tender and then Battery Tender Plus user for many years. But, of the 4 I own, I think 3 of them have simply died. I just bought 2 of the Optimate 4 DPs and am using one on my GS and one on my Suzuki. I've only been using them for about a week so far, so I can't really say anything more about them other than that they seem to work just fine, and all the lights on them give me a lot more info about what's going on than the 2 LEDs on the BT Plus.
If you have a BMW branded GEL battery that's made by Exide make sure you get the Deltran Plus that's specifically programmed for GEL batteries. P/N: 021-0156. ~$45.00 shipped from the world wide interweb.
That have lasted for so long. I'll just mail the CAN-BUS tender back to them, and tell them where they can re-stock it. It's probably way over engineered.
Anyone getting only 1-2 years out of a battery and wondering why? The local BMW guys don't have a clue and they sell the Deltran Tender Jr. w/o asking what type of battery. I recall reading that Deltran actually made the BMW charger. Hmmm. Read here: http://www.r1200gs.info/misc/BMW-charger.html
I really don't understand why GS owners continue to beat their heads against the brick wall with these CANBUS enabled chargers. Add a pig-tail to your battery and trickle charge directly, bypassing the CANBUS. It's so simple.
Perhaps a little understanding of Economics 101 could help ... It's good to understand that EVERY warranty you receive is something you've bought. There is NO SUCH THING as a warranty that's free. If you want a lifetime warranty, someone will likely take your money. Given that warranties are EXACTLY the same thing as insurance policies, you can take to the bank the insurance company won't lose money. Personally I'm glad I wasn't forced to pay for any more warranty than I did. I'd hate to think the prices of things I need to buy were increased to please the minority that demand risk-free life. No question you're pretty near the top of motorcycles, but this isn't Rolls Royce territory. A block of ice could fall from an airliner's lavatory and go through the roof of your house and I'd feel more sorry for you.
Thank you!!!! +1 Battery Tender Jr. chargers are like $30 bucks, connect a pigtail direct to the battery and plug into the wall....then forget about it. And if you read their website, its completely compatible with AGM and gel cell batteries. I've never seen this topic be such an issue on any other bike forum...