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K75s Accessory plug quirk -- any ideas??

G

GordonOlson

New member
The accessory plug on my 1993 K75S no longer syncs up with a battery tender. (The red light on the battery tender indicates that it is not hooked up to anything even after I connect it to the accessory plug.) I know that the plug itself is working since it powers a heated vest or air compressor just fine. I also know that the battery tender is OK because I tried it on a friend's bike. I used to keep my bike on the tender regularly without any problems and would like to do so again once the colder weather gets here and I am not riding almost every day. This is not a real problem at the moment, but is a bit of a mystery. Any ideas out there??

FYI (in case it might be relevant): the bike has ABS, has about 36,000 miles on it, and is a real sweetheart.

Gordon Olson
River City Beemers
Sacramento
 
Gordon,


I'm not sure of the timeline of your problem, so bear with me.

With the key off, plug you compressor in. If it works, everything on the bike is as it should be.

If it doesn't, check the accessory fuse in the fuse block ( 4th one down, 15 amp). Also make sure the plug in the back of the socket is securely plugged in. Also some previous owner may have installed a switch on the accessory socket.

If the compressor works, check for bad contact by the battery charger plug. Also some plugs have fuses built into them. Don't know if yours is this type, but you might check for that.

The Clymers manual is no help as they don't show that circuit. They show nothing connected to the #4 fuse.


:dance :dance :dance
 
Dead 120v plug-in at your house???? Try plugging it in somewhere else in your house. Or plug some other electrical item into the plug in you are trying to power the tender with and see if it works. Only thing that makes sense to me if I am understanding the problem.
Gilly
 
98lee -- Next step???

The compressor works fine when the key is off. Can you explain more fully about the battery charge plug next step??? Thx.
 
GordonOlson said:
The compressor works fine when the key is off. Can you explain more fully about the battery charge plug next step??? Thx.
Click to expand...

Here's my 2 cents,

If the plug on the bike will operate a 12v compressor it has both voltage and amperage availible and is operating normally, no more needs to be said about the bike end if it.

Most battery tenders will float ( ~ zero output ) when hooked to a system that is fully charged. Does the light on your charger go off when fully charged?

I'm with Gilly...Is the 120v A/C socket in your garage working? Plug a light into it...
If it's a GFI protected recepticle, which it should be if up to new code, it maybe tripped.
 
You probably have a BMW male plug on your battery tender if you are plugging it into the accessory socket . If the socket is hot and the battery tender works,(I am assuming that you did not use the BMW male plug on the friends bike) the only thing it can be is the BMW male plug on the battery tender.



Ralph Sims
 
Ralph: Unless the battery tender is doing NOTHING in HIS garage, which again MAY be a bad house electrical plug in, like a blown GFI or circuit breaker, or fuse if it's an older house. Need to try plugging something into the house socket and see if it is OK, like a lamp, a fan, electric razor, neon beer sign..........
Gilly
 
How 'bout a jukebox, want to borrow one of my jukeboxes? Just add beer and instant party.........
 
Gilly said:
Ralph: Unless the battery tender is doing NOTHING in HIS garage, which again MAY be a bad house electrical plug in, like a blown GFI or circuit breaker, or fuse if it's an older house. Need to try plugging something into the house socket and see if it is OK, like a lamp, a fan, electric razor, neon beer sign..........
Gilly
Click to expand...

The original post said that the red light on the battery tender lights. I am not aware of a battery tender that has lights that light if no 120 voltage is applied. I have an onboard 3 bank battery charger in my bass boat and 3 battery tenders for motorcycles and 4 auto battery chargers. If they have no juice, they don't light.

So my assumption is he has power to the tender. I could be wrong but unless the tender has an internal battery to power the lights (don't know why one would) his electrical outlet has power.

I do have a BMW plug on a battery tender that does nothing because a wire has broken in the plug. I'll fix it if I get another BMW.

Ralph Sims
 
GordonOlson said:
The accessory plug on my 1993 K75S no longer syncs up with a battery tender. (The red light on the battery tender indicates that it is not hooked up to anything even after I connect it to the accessory plug.)
Click to expand...

mmmmm, that's not how I'm reading it. To me that means that the red light is NOT coming on. Maybe I'm just confused, as "battery tender" is kind of a generic statement as to what he is using. I'd assume there is some red power light which is not lighting up, which means it might not be getting 120.

Gilly
 
Gilly said:
mmmmm, that's not how I'm reading it. To me that means that the red light is NOT coming on. Maybe I'm just confused, as "battery tender" is kind of a generic statement as to what he is using. I'd assume there is some red power light which is not lighting up, which means it might not be getting 120.

Gilly
Click to expand...

Could be right.

Rlph Sims
 
I do have AC power

All: Thx for the advice. I do have power to the battery tender. I will replace the BMW male plug and see if that solves the probelm. In the meantime, I will just ride daily to keep the battery fully charged!!
 
Well yeah you could be too, no doubt. Need more info. If his has a red light that comes on as a warning that it's not connected to or charging anything(?) then I can see your point. But I can't get past that comment. About your same idea that I was suggesting there is a red light to indicate the charger isn't plugged in, yeah that sounds dumb. But also what Gordon sort of makes it sound like, that there is some "synch" light that says that "I'm not charging anything right now" doesn't sound right either. What I CAN understand is either a red power light (charger is "on" light), OR a red light that would mean "charging" and a green that says "battery is fully charged", but I don't think that would be the case, as Gordon would just let this red "charging" light stay on until it turns green. So i am still sticking with the "check wall outlet" idea.
Gilly
 
I see we posted at the same time, Gordon, that's good. Can you, as a test, use the clamp connections on the battery? It's a bit tough to get to, or you can just try it on a car battery just to test the charger function. Should work on any 12v battery.
Gilly
 
GordonOlson said:
All: Thx for the advice. I do have power to the battery tender. I will replace the BMW male plug and see if that solves the probelm. In the meantime, I will just ride daily to keep the battery fully charged!!
Click to expand...

The connection in the BMW plug is fragile IMO. Take the plug apart and make sure the wire lug screws are tight. I actually had the ground lug break on mine and being cheap and the plug $12+ I soldered it back.

Did the battery tender come with an end that connects directly to the battery? If so, just connect it to the battery and your back in business.

Ralph Sims
 
Case clsoed -- THX!

All:

The BMW male plug was the problem -- as several of you suggested. I rewired it and all is well. Thx for the help.

I will still ride it every dsay just to be sure the battery stays charged! :)

Cheers, Gordy
 
GordonOlson said:
All:

The BMW male plug was the problem -- as several of you suggested. I rewired it and all is well. Thx for the help.

I will still ride it every dsay just to be sure the battery stays charged! :)

Cheers, Gordy
Click to expand...

Give the tender to your buddy, it works on his bike!
 
BuddingGeezer said:
The connection in the BMW plug is fragile IMO. Take the plug apart and make sure the wire lug screws are tight. I actually had the ground lug break on mine and being cheap and the plug $12+ I soldered it back.

Did the battery tender come with an end that connects directly to the battery? If so, just connect it to the battery and your back in business.

Ralph Sims
Click to expand...

I'm with Ralph, the BMW plugs are not the strongest. I have a small portable compressor that I leave in the bike. The BMW style DIN plug is very common, it seems in the farm tractor industry. I picked one up at a John Deere store in a neighboring town.
Easy to install and very solid!

Ron
 
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