My 2014 GSA has, for a variety of reasons both good and bad, been parked for a couple of months. I've had the BMW charger plugged into the original outlet up by the instruments. While tinkering yesterday, I needed power so I turned on the ignition. Absolutely NOTHING except the taillight! No instrument lights, just the tail light. Then I looked at the BMW charger and noted that the error light was lit. I decided to try charging the obviously totally flat battery using a smart but non-BMW charger, direct to the battery. Nine hours later the battery is still charging, so my guess is that I've killed it. While doing some testing this morning I decided to see if I can isolate any electrical leakage. One of the leads of my PDM 60 goes to an SAE connector for my tank bag. That one is programmed for 6A. Another one, programmed for 12A goes to a BMW socket that I mounted on the left side below the right seat so that I could plug in an electric jacket or tire pump should I wish to. With the ignition key off, and no lights showing on the PDM, both of these outlets show enough power to move the needle on a meter. In both cases, I read - very strangely - about 1 V. Flicking over to amperes, I get a very slight deflection. Bizarrely, whether I have the meter set to 1V, 10V or 25V on the DC scale, the needle deflection is the same, meaning that the 1V reading is meaningless. The meter is fine - it indicates correctly for DC - D-cells, a car battery - and also AC household current. I had assumed, obviously incorrectly, that with the ignition switch off and after the one minute delay, the PDM would be completely dead. Apparently not the case. Does anybody have any idea what might be going on? Alex PS The PDM has been on the bike for several months now. I programmed each circuit to suit a purpose. None are set for "power always on" and I have full 12v only when the ignition switch is on.
Do you have a digital multi meter? I would measure the amperage draw from B+ at your battery. This will give you a better idea of whats going on with your electrical system and will show any parasitic load. Voltage drops generally tell you if you have a bad connection and should be done at every connection until you get to ground. So Key OFF, remove your B+ wire and hook your meter in series. Red meter lead to the battery terminal and the black meter lead to the B+ wire removed from the battery. This will tell you the overall current draw of the bike sitting. I would think its not more then a few milliamps. If its more then that you need to find the draw. If you suspect its your tank bag remove the connector and check the status on the meter. And so on until you find your problem. If you don't have a DMM they can be had for cheap at the auto parts store. My 2 doubloons
Alexol, I don't have an answer to your PDM issues, but my understanding is that the plug by your instrument cluster is not designed for a charger. My dealer specifically installed a powerlet prior to delivery specifically for that reason. With that said, even without a PDM, is there enough of a draw that your battery could discharge after 2 months?
After nine hours of "charging" what does your battery read for voltage with your charger disconnected and the ignition key turned on. Should be 12.4 to 12.6 with the computer load. I suspect you have a bad battery that is not letting your electronic equipment function due to low voltage. And I have to interject, I hear of more problems using a BMW charger linked to the can buss system than a smart charger directly to the battery through pig tail or direct socket. Many chargers will not start a charge cycle unless they see more than 4 to 5 volts, your battery probably was lower than that if it was "dead". Get a decent charger and maybe even a new battery now.
Alexol, I use the BMW supplied OEM power outlets on the front/tank faring (2009 R1200GSA) to plug in my BMW battery charger. Never had an issue charging / maintaining the battery. Several years ago I put an AGM battery in the bike because long sits (3 to 5 months) without the battery maintainer and the OEM battery was flat. I do recall that the BMW battery charger would take 10 to 14 hours to go to full charge or at least the last light came on. I have found from time to time that I needed to turn the key on, connect the battery charger and then turn the key off for the charger to work properly. Don't have an answer for that. BTW my younger brother has a 2011 GSA and uses the BMW battery charger to maintain the battery. This will be his second OEM battery so I am wondering if keeping the BMW battery charger connected all the time (winter) is a good thing. I used the BMW charger in Alaska but since my bike has been stored in SoCal with no power nearby I opted for the AGM and disconnecting the PDM60. The bike sat from Nov 30 to March 1 and lit right off. I use to have problems with the BMW security system but I changed out the module so I only have TPM now. That also may have helped. The PDM 60 draws parasitic power all the time. I have never put a meter to it but the ROWE Tech Rep said for long storage periods disconnect it. I just added a second PDM60 to my sidecar (added a second battery also) for control of all the electrical crap the monkey asked for and put a switch in the line from the battery to the PDM60 to positively disconnect it for storage. Have you set any of the circuits to be powered all the time? I can't recall what the default is but I know you can leave a circuit powered without the key on. BTW I may be driving through your back yard in April on my trip from PA back to SoCal with my new sidecar. Depending upon the weather I'll do 40, 20 or 10 cross country.
Both my older GSs (1993/2002) could also use the OEM outlets, but apparently not the newer ones. At least that's what I was told abt my '15. I remember when I bought my 1100GS a charger came with the bike :eek1. I still have it and it works
Alaska, that dual battery set up is cool. If you use an RV diode dual battery isolator it will keep the batteries from discharging each other due to their different internal resistances, and they both charge up normally. The CAN bus system and it's need for a procedure to hook a charger to is pesky. All the various parasitic loads these days add up to trouble in a week or so. My radar detector would kill my battery in 5 days if I forgot to turn it off which was way too often.
First, if you do come through this part of the world, get in touch! Being totally anal retentive (should that be hyphenated or not?) I have a Seven Seas waterproof trip-type circuit breaker, so I should probably use that as an off switch if I know I'm not going to use the bike for a while. The BMW charger worked perfectly on previous bikes (a 2006 GS) but I've been less impressed with it on this 2014 GSA and the 2014 GS immediately prior to this one. Now have a digital multimeter so I'll go and play. The battery has been on charge on an Optimate for about 14 hours now and it's still showing that it's attempting to charge the battery which is scrambling to muster 12.5V. That suggests that I've killed it. I'll keep looking to see if I can find any problems but at this stage I'm thinking DFP, also known as "pilot error". I've never understood why BMW wanted to make things like keeping a battery on trickle charge, or checking the oil, so ludicrously complicated but what do I know? Alex
I used something similar to the Seven Seas, its a Blue Seas combination circuit breaker and switch. West Marine sells them I am sure others do also. I like them because they come in different sizes from 25A to 200A, their water proof and pretty much bomb proof on a motorcycle. The smaller amp ones come with rubber insulators on the lugs. I used a 60 A one in my battery case on the sidecar. Protection from the battery to the sidecar with the fuse and the added advantage of a manual shut off when I want to isolate the power (battery). I am going to install a similar one under the bike tool tray to provide a circuit breaker and switch from the MC battery to the PDM60 and the cable running between the sidecar and the MC battery. I also installed an isolator/combiner switch from Blue Seas that only allows the two batteries to be connected if the alternator is charging but with the battery switch in the combiner position I can get emergency power from the sidecar battery to the bike to start it. Interesting how some things from the boating world will fill a need in the MC world. The outboard is the MC alternator. I couldn't do this except that the sidecar battery box was made big enough to house the extra switches and the circuit breaker. Since it was made for an outboard the switches are actually small. The MC MRCB will fit in the space between the tool tray and the rear fender cover. Yes I am anal but you have a lot of time to think during our 6 month winters. Still doesn't address your PDM60 issue but it does sound like you killed your battery.
Not quite sure what my brain was thinking about, but yes, mine is the Blue Seas version, exactly per your photo. I have no idea where Seven Seas came from... After a little playing around with a very basic digital multimeter - voltage and resistance only, but what can you expect $22, just good enough for the on-the-road tool kit - I came up with some interesting numbers. Ignition key off, no lights on the PDM, and the SAE connector which would go to my tank bag if it was connected, shows 1.56V. Ignition key on, and the same connector shows 12.4V. Key on or off, with the Blue Seas breaker tripped and the voltage is 0.00V. So it seems that yes, there is enough drain through the PDM 60 to ensure that you either have to ride your bike on a regular basis or you have to keep plugged into a decent charger, one preferably is connected direct to the battery. I went to play around some more and see what I find, but so far I'm coming to three conclusions: Get rid of the irritating CANBUS / ZFE charger Charge directly to the battery Install a relay to ensure that when the PDM is supposed to be off, it is off And yes, buy a new battery and appreciate the expensive & irritating education! I'll be doing some more playing around with a better multimeter over the next few days and if I find anything, I'll post here. Alex
Before you get too far down the road I would call the Tech Reps at ROWE and tell them what you are seeing. They told me to disconnect my PDM for long stops but I don't recall the parasitic load being that high. You could possibly have a bad unit or some other issue that is feeding back through the PDM and causing the problem. Keep posting your findings because I think there are a lot of PDM60 users out there.
When you installed the PDM, did you tap into the red/brown wire for your trigger? IIRC, my draw was .04 through that wire.
There was a good suggestion. I called yesterday morning, but don't really have much information - they will get back to it and confirm the current draw, which seems a little odd as I thought this would've been one of the known values for the unit. The gentleman with whom I was speaking suggested might be as much is half of an amp, but he was a representative rather than technical support and he made clear that this wasn't in his area of expertise; he said he will call or email with accurate information. There was no answer as to how the pig tail could still have a PD of 1.56V even with the ignition key in the off position. As I said, not much new information; just wanted to post something as I think there are several people interested in this topic. Alex
On my '14 GSw there was some reprogramming of that outlet, something about leakage, when I had the 600 service done (yeah, that service was part of the deal) My original battery was part of a recall, check that before buying a new one. Only charge to the battery.
Interesting thread! I'm having the exact same issue with my new PDM60 that I'm installing in my Can Am Spyder. I just send mail to their support folks, and will update the thread when I get a response. -UD
I'm caught a bit by what you said at the beginning.. nothing came online when you turned the key, except the tail light. You say the battery (now) shows ~12v, do you have a functional instrument cluster now?
