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Battery Bug on R1200R (2009)

tinytrains

Still plays with trains.
Anyone have an Argus Battery Bug on their Hex Head? The back light comes on when the voltage is over 12.8 volts or so. This allows it to go off at the normal static voltage of 12.5V (engine running back light on, engine off, back light off). The problem is my battery puts out 13 volts even with the engine off, so the back light stay on drawing power. I gather AGM batteries put out more voltage than standard wet cells.

Any solutions?

Thanks,
Scott
 
Mods- clean up on Aisle 5. we've got some Hexhead that spilled all over the Oilheads floor, and its making one heck of a slippery mess here. Mods, clea up on Aisle 5 please.
 
I've noticed it BF. the Battery Bug itself has been receiving real good reviews over at ADV. It seems that the ability of the device has led to a chance of (if one was paying attention) noticing a battery problem somewhat in advance of the sudden death/bike won't run that seems to plague a lot of the batteries-mine included.

I'm thinking of one to plug into the maintenance charge port on both my bikes- especially the F800, the TW has a Kick Start.

BB-home-aapex.jpg


http://www.argusanalyzers.com/battery-monitors.html

I'll probably move this thread to Gear as it's not bike specific and may help all that wish a way to keep an eye on their battery.

As for Scott's question, from the site-

If the Battery Bug stays on all the time will it drain the battery? Does it time out to save energy?

The Battery Bug consumes very little power - about 5mA for the BB-DCM series and about 3mA for the BB-SBM series. This is similar to that of the digital clock in a car, and is about the same rate that a car battery loses charge just sitting on a shelf. It would take over 5 months with no charging for a Battery Bug to substantially discharge a typical car battery.
Gary
 
I've had a Battery Bug on my 2009 GSA now for a while. I also now have an Odyssey Battery installed. The light stays on til it drops below 12.8 volts ( i believe). Hen it goes out. No problems with it draining the battery. Great product. I now have plans to put one on every one of my bikes.
 
I suspect Scott's (OP) problem will be self-curing.. even AGM batteries rarely sit at greater then 12.8V for any length of time (and 13V standing voltage is about unheard of..)
 
Been uing the bug for over 3 years to track loss of output of my stock batt in the RT. So far, though it loses punch in the cold that is reflected by the bug, it has lost nothing significant at warm temp. The bug has given me the confidence to keep using it, knowing I won't get caught out unless for some reason mine develops sudden death syndrome- whichI think unlikely for a 4 yr old battery. Will see howe it does when it gets cold this fall- replacment will be an Odyssey when needed- already use the 680 in 2 other BMWs and have used the 925 and 680 in track cars for years with no issues.
I added a reset button to my bug by putting a temporary contact pushbutton switch in its positive lead. This prevents the bug from permanetly storing its lowest winter output reading and allows me to reset for warmer weather monitoring without disconnecting. I put up a thread on that some ime ago that can proably be found by seearch.
 
Battery Bug

I just bought one and I knew my battery was loosing power do to it being 5 years in use. Bought a new battery but did not install it since the old one was still working fine. After I installed the battery bug, it was reading 42% capacity. Holding off installing the new battery until the battery bug records a lower reading or starts to warn me of an expected failure. So far I am pleased with the product,time will tell.
 
This thread reminded me to get going on this type of battery monitoring. I just bought 2 for the bikes and 1 of the larger units for the deep cycle batteries on the motorhome. With the 2 different versions it should be a good test of the overall quality of the product. Gary
 
Yep. Installed and the voltage drops to 12.8 after a few hours (or flipping the key on and off) and the backlight goes out.

Thanks.
Scott

BTW, if anyone installs one, be sure and add a fuse. The MFG seems not to care if your bike goes up in flames.
 
BTW, if anyone installs one, be sure and add a fuse. The MFG seems not to care if your bike goes up in flames.
I just picked up 3 of the units. I don't see any inherent design problems that would cause flames. On the motorcycle units, the leads are quite long so....if you feel the leads might chafe, the addition of a fuse (on the positive side) would be a good idea.
 
Its always a good idea to loom wires on a bike, no matter if a device is fused or not. Nothing looks more amateur than a bunch of bare wires connected to the battery..The bugs wires are plenty protected up by the gauge head but only thin and unfused by the battery- but all wires on a bike run at least some distance from the battery before connecting to a fuse so there is always some amount of wire that can short to the frame or ground if sloppily installed or unprotected.

Common sense goes a long way in electrical installs and the power of 12V DC on a bike with a fairly good sized battery and big alternator to start fires shouldn't be underestimated. Anyone watching the Rolex race this weekend got to see one of the Porsches with a rather hefty cockpit fire that apparently started from an electrical issue and had to quit before the driver got toasted...
 
I just picked up 3 of the units. I don't see any inherent design problems that would cause flames. On the motorcycle units, the leads are quite long so....if you feel the leads might chafe, the addition of a fuse (on the positive side) would be a good idea.

I was being a bit sarcastic about the flames.

It is the motorcycle unit I am referring to. Nothing wrong with the unit, it is just if you get a short in the wire under your gas tank, there is no fuse to protect it. A simple $3 fuse holder and a lug did the trick.

Relying on the wire to act as a fuse is never a good idea unless it is designed as a fusible link. A hot wire can cut into other wires and make a huge mess or fire.
 
The Battery Bug itself has been receiving real good reviews over at ADV.

Gary

Are these user reviews and if so, what technical background do these users have?

These devices sort of remind me of those conductance testers which IMO are useless. Why? They provide a quick but very incomplete status of a battery's health. They would tell me I have a "good battery" when in fact, capacity would be down to 20 or 30%. How is that a good battery?

A true battery test is a load test and a capacity test; the latter test is time consuming.
 
I have removed it.

I went on a business trip and when I started the bike 2 weeks later, the battery was dead. I really do not think it is the battery as it fairly new has been working great before and since.

For some magical reason, my battery sits at 13.0 volts. Which is high, but I have measured it with two meters. This causes the back light to stay on (it comes on at 12.9 volts). I goes off after a few hours, but then comes on again when the charge rebuilds. I suspect this went on and off while I was gone.

The BB is a neat gadget, but make sure the back light stays off.
 
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