2016 RTW electric draw

[69zeff65]

Sticky microswitch!

Or whatever they call it in the new digital/canbus era, something stuck and that something freed up.

 

[pglaves]

Or whatever they call it in the new digital/canbus era, something stuck and that something freed up.

And then stuck again, it would seem.

What if anything was changed between tests? Key on and off? Bike started? Etc.?

 

[jandhumphreyme]

If you've upluged all potential users, you might find someone with a scope and have them backprobe the canbus and check and see if there is a signal on the bus, this may indicate that one of the moudles is comming out of sleep mode, you can then unplug the different modules and see if this clears the issue.

I'm also wondering if there maybe a switch which has some minor corrosion and your seeing a slight short to ground.

Imobilizer system?

 

[52184]

.
Imobilizer system?

Which begs the question; where was the key fob located while measurements were being taken…?

Best,
DeVern

 

[pglaves]

Which begs the question; where was the key fob located while measurements were being taken…?

Best,
DeVern

This might be a very, "Ah Ha" question!

 

[topophilia]

Still a mystery

Well, I was hoping that y'all had in fact found the "AH HA" item but alas, after running five more tests with the key being by the on/off switch and five with the key removed a safe distance, the results were the same.

Within a reasonable margin of error (to me that is) the results are as follows :

Turn the bike off and amp draw is around 2.7 to 2.9 amps repeatable in all tests.

After about 60 seconds, draw drops to about .06 amps. This is when the exhaust flapper is released.

After another 60 to 63 seconds, draw drops to 0.0 amps. There is no audible or physical change which I can ascertain.

Yup. you guessed it! Working just fine today. Nothing changed! Didn't touch anything other than leaving the battery disconnected since yesterday.

I will let you know what tomorrows tests bring as I am going to leave the battery connected overnight today.

Thanks for your continued interest, Bob

 

[topophilia]

Perhaps an "ah ha" moment?

During my ongoing testing trying everything I can think of, I chanced to try to open my gas cap while the key was away from the bike but the ammeter was still connected.
Much to my surprise, the ammeter registered about .50 amps and fluctuated down to about .06 to .09 amps and stayed there.
After about ten minutes, I gave the cap a tap as though closing without pulling the tab. The draw went immediately to zero.

After lubricating the latching mechanism, the amp draw times out and returns to zero.

I will be really upset with myself if it turns out that I have spent all these days just trying to run down a sticking switch on my gas cap. AH HA!

The saga continues, Bob

 

[PoorUB]

Doesn't the CANBUS draw a slight amount all the time? I know my 2018 R1200RT will not start after a 2-3 weeks without a battery maintainer. i just assumed it was normal because my CANBUS Harley was similar.

Which reminds me, I need to plug it in!

 

[RadioFlyer]

Doesn't the CANBUS draw a slight amount all the time? I know my 2018 R1200RT will not start after a 2-3 weeks without a battery maintainer. i just assumed it was normal because my CANBUS Harley was similar.

Which reminds me, I need to plug it in!

A controller will draw power. The CAN-bus does not.

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

 

[topophilia]

Same old s - - t today.

I will either get smart or too frustrated to continue.

 

[pauls1150]

Do you have access to a decent ammeter? Start opening up connectors and put the ammeter in series to track down where it is/isn't.
A digital ammeter will avoid the question of which is positive and negative; start on a high-enough scale that you don't blow the meter or its internal fuse.

 

[PoorUB]

A controller will draw power. The CAN-bus does not.

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

Well, my point is the Rt draws a bit of power all the time when off.

Pretty sure if the OP's meter says 0 amps it is not correct. Anyone know how much current an RT will draw in a dormant state?

 

[jandhumphreyme]

Well, my point is the Rt draws a bit of power all the time when off.

Pretty sure if the OP's meter says 0 amps it is not correct. Anyone know how much current an RT will draw in a dormant state?

In the OP's very first post he stated the following;

"All tests have been run many many times and repeat with the same results. All of these tests have ALSO BEEN RUN on an identical bike equipped exactly the same and manufactured just 33 serial numbers apart.
The results are nearly identical except that the control bikes resting amp draw drops to 0.0 amps after about two minutes."

So your theory UB, one bike is working correctly the other is not.

The plot thickens.

 

[PoorUB]

One more thing to confuse everyone. I had my RT out a couple weeks ago. I parked it in the garage and forgot to plug in the battery tender and it took about 15 seconds to go from charging to storage so obviously the batter was not that low. I replaced the original battery late last fall before we went down to the Ozarks. Perhaps the old battery was worse off than I thought? All I know for sure is my old battery needed to be on the maintainer as it would not start the motorcycle after a couple weeks. In a month it would be dead. Over night or a 2-3 days was no issue, but I did notice it was cranking the engine slowly so I replaced it and never put anymore thought into it.

I was fairly certain the RT had current draw when sitting, after all, how does the key fob "wake up" the electronics if they don't "look" for the fob all the time?

 

[Omega Man]

Are you using a digital amp gauge or “sweep hand” meter?

For fine work I rely on my Simpson 260. I have a tough time with digital meters due sampling rates.

OM

 

[topophilia]

Do you have access to a decent ammeter? Start opening up connectors and put the ammeter in series to track down where it is/isn't.
A digital ammeter will avoid the question of which is positive and negative; start on a high-enough scale that you don't blow the meter or its internal fuse.

Thank you. Yes, I have a digital ammeter. In fact, I have three of them. Two are through leads and one is clamp on. While they do read slightly different, I feel that they are similar enough for sussing out the rat in the woods.

One of the problems I am dealing with now is repeatability. From day to day I am getting different results so I suspect that my methods are either not scientific enough or the ghost draw is inconsistent. I have as you suggested disconnected various connections and watched for change on the ammeter.

I used to run a service business in which there were often issues which were on again off again and I coined the phrase; "I envy the people who go out to fix broken windows. At least when they get to the job they know what the problem is and when they leave the job they know the problem is fixed!"

Getting close to just deciding that if I am going to leave the bike for more than a couple of days that I will just hook up the charger.

Thanks to all who have contributed and those who may be in the same situation someday.

Bob

 

[56982]

Just a question , again i'm not a mechanic, but does the clock or any type of an alarm relating to the key fob or any type of monitoring system have a draw when the motorcycle is not running ?

 

[pauls1150]

A digital clock "probably" draws only a couple of milliamps; note that many little appliances (example, a kitchen timer or your car's "basic" fob) use a CR2032 battery and that lasts for over a year.

Alarm... I have no idea, but I have to believe that it needs to draw some small current whenever it's armed.

 

[topophilia]

Acquesciense

Just to close the loop on this thread, I wanted to thank everyone for your help and wisdom.

I have given up the quest for answers and have put the RT back together. It is time to ride now and worry later.

The next time I have occasion to be at a BMW dealer I will ask that they hook it up to their expensive computers and see if they can figure out where the problem lies.

I will just keep her on a maintainer between rides and not worry about it.

Once again, Thank you.

Bob

 

[easy]

Just to close the loop on this thread, I wanted to thank everyone for your help and wisdom.

I have given up the quest for answers and have put the RT back together. It is time to ride now and worry later.

The next time I have occasion to be at a BMW dealer I will ask that they hook it up to their expensive computers and see if they can figure out where the problem lies.

I will just keep her on a maintainer between rides and not worry about it.

Once again, Thank you.

Bob

And if you find out what the issue is, please let us know.

E.