Phone wiring

Early 2013 R1200GS (still) Camhead-- my first "modern" Beemer after years of airheads. I'd like to wire a source of power for my iPhone mount so I can use the navigation and music I like. But, what problems will Canbus create for me? I guess I can't just run a fused circuit directly from the battery, or....?
Your advice appreciated.
John

slash5er said:

Early 2013 R1200GS (still) Camhead-- my first "modern" Beemer after years of airheads. I'd like to wire a source of power for my iPhone mount so I can use the navigation and music I like. But, what problems will Canbus create for me? I guess I can't just run a fused circuit directly from the battery, or....?
Your advice appreciated.
John

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You CAN run a fused circuit from the battery. The bike won't know or care.

You can tap into the accessory outlet wiring as well. That way you have a timed off circuit.

Wiring directly to the battery will give you power on all the time and if the mount is charging the phone it will eventually discharge the battery unless the phone is removed or the mount is disconnected.

Thanks. That gives me an opening. My mount has a switch and I typically take my phone with me when I'm not on the bike.

As far as I am aware, most BMW's have a connector for NAV power located somewhere near the dash or forks. Many without the NAV option have the plug wire tied to the area near the dash/forks. You can buy the mating connector plug that you can wire into whatever mount or device you are using (or you can cut the wire and wire in direct). There are 3 wires, positive, negative and a speedo pulse wire that doesn't need to be used. This is a switched power supply that has a delayed off once the bike is shut off.

On my prior BMW I used it to power both my phone and my GPS and no issues. Current bike already used for GPS so I use a circuit of from my HEX EzCan to power my phone. The Hex EzCan draws power direct from the battery and just "listens" to the CANBUS to power on and off and perform other functions.

Others will just wire direct to battery but at minimum I would recommend some sort of power distribution box with fuses to allow a single connection to the battery and expansion of other power items such as heated gear and more in the future as keeps the wiring and setup much cleaner. You can also get a power distribution box that will use a relay to power off and on if needed.

bicyclenut said:

As far as I am aware, most BMW's have a connector for NAV power located somewhere near the dash or forks. Many without the NAV option have the plug wire tied to the area near the dash/forks. You can buy the mating connector plug that you can wire into whatever mount or device you are using (or you can cut the wire and wire in direct). There are 3 wires, positive, negative and a speedo pulse wire that doesn't need to be used. This is a switched power supply that has a delayed off once the bike is shut off.
View attachment 83371

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Just so i understand...if I have the OEM wired GPS mount on my bike, and I'm not using a dedicated GPS, I can cut into those wires to directly wire my phone mount without having Canbus get angry at me?

slash5er said:

Just so i understand...if I have the OEM wired GPS mount on my bike, and I'm not using a dedicated GPS, I can cut into those wires to directly wire my phone mount without having Canbus get angry at me?

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Yes it is an electronically fused circuit. No Canbus in play here.

GSAddict said:

Yes it is an electronically fused circuit. No Canbus in play here.

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Of course the CAN-bus is never at play in wiring electrics. This is a popular misconception. Chassis electrics are controlled by the ZFE module. The CAN-bus is a Controller Area Network.

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Exactly

RadioFlyer said:

Of course the CAN-bus is never at play in wiring electrics. This is a popular misconception. Chassis electrics are controlled by the ZFE module. The CAN-bus is a Controller Area Network.

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Got the idea that I can intercept this circuit freely. Couldn't help but chuckle, though. If I understood what this meant I probably would not have asked such a basic question. But I'm teachable!

Although popularly cited as such CANbus really has nothing to do with this.

The CANbus is a Controller Area Network over which the various controllers on modern vehicles communicate.

The real issue here is the presence of one such controller - the ZFE. The ZFE assumed the responsibilities of a number of devices that used to be used and required a good deal of copper wire to interconnect. Gone are relays and fuses. All the chassis electrics source their power from the ZFE. Similarly all the switches have become logical inputs to the ZFE. The ZFE monitors all the circuits it powers. Under current situations may generate a fault code as a burnt out bulb or an open circuit. Over current situations will result in the ZFE cutting power to the circuit in question (rather than popping a fuse in the old days) and generating a fault code indicating a short or similar.

It was the simultaneous appearance of such controllers and the CANbus to interconnect them that led to the erroneous reference to CANbus when dealing with chassis electrics. Easily the most misused term in all of vehicle maintenance and accessorizing. Manufacturers and vendors who know better are guilty of popularizing the misuse and making it common parlance.

Thanks, RadioFlyer for the good explanation. I had just googled and read Anton's description and understand it better now.
I do remember years ago when a friend was doing the installs for HyperLites at rallies that he initially had all sorts of problems when the new controller circuitry was introduced. I'm just so accustomed to my old airhead that all this wizardry has me fearful of touching anything but on ignition key.

OK, if I have all the SOP correct PDQ, the ZFE and other nicknamed controllers are linked into a communications system called the CANBUS. The network and all of the connected controllers apparently work as a system. I call that - correctly or incorrectly - the CANBUS System. If this is not the correct name for the connected system then what is the correct name for the system of all the controllers connected to the CANBUS, and what are the acronyms for all of the other controllers?

PGlaves said:

OK, if I have all the SOP correct PDQ, the ZFE and other nicknamed controllers are linked into a communications system called the CANBUS. The network and all of the connected controllers apparently work as a system. I call that - correctly or incorrectly - the CANBUS System. If this is not the correct name for the connected system then what is the correct name for the system of all the controllers connected to the CANBUS, and what are the acronyms for all of the other controllers?

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The point is the ZFE alone controls the chassis electrics and does not require the CANbus nor the other controllers to accomplish its mission. Thus to say that any given electrical issue is due to CANbus is just plain wrong.

Sure you can call all the CANbus connected controllers a system but that's not relevant to the chassis electrics issues.

Other controllers depend on the bike in question. Off the top of my head for my bike:

ZFE - chassis electrics
BMSK - engine management
KOMBI - instruments
ABS - brakes
DWA - alarm

I suspect that there is another controller for bikes with fancy suspension and stability control.

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A fused, direct to the battery power lead works great....... Would that be FDTBPL?
OM

Let's say your home has an alarm system with a motion detector. The alarm system uses the phone line to alert the monitoring service. Everything works fine. Then you get a dog. Now the dog sets off the alarm and the alarm monitoring company needlessly goes into its response protocol repeatedly.

Does it makes sense to go on the internet and say "My new dog triggers the alarm and the alarm monitoring service goes nuts" and to have as a response "Yeah, it's the phone line"?

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Omega Man said:

A fused, direct to the battery power lead works great....... Would that be FDTBPL?
OM

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No. You need to translate to German and then convert to an acronym.

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Ich weiss nicht wass soll es bedeuten das ich so traurich bin...

...aber...in the mean time, I will thread a fused circuit from my handle bar to my battery and call it good!

I just want a coke and to Xerox a page out of my shop manual