3 BMW Gell Batteries in 3 YEARS

[allanruprecht]

- I have a 2004 1150 RT -
After 3 years of riding (49,000 miles), my battery is not holding a charge and needs my BMW battery charger operating DAILY or the battery just goes CLICK...CLICK...CLICK. The terminal connections are clean and tight.

I can't justify $120.00 for another BMW battery that will "quit working" in 1.5 years.

Any suggestions?.....or should I just buy a different brand?

Allan Ruprecht
Northville, Michigan

 

[PAULBACH]

Try a battery tender

Here is one WAG.

Do you mostly ride short trips and the battery just does not reach full charge by the time you return home?

Get a battery tender - not a trickle charger. Generally you can find them for $50 or less. Buy the tender and hook up the pigtail directly to the battery. After every ride plus in the battery tender and you should get years from the battery.

Good Luck

 

[PETDOC]

Something's not right. I have an '04 GS and finally replaced gel after 3 years only to discover it was my starter and not the battery. I did replace it with a Panasonic and after replacing the starter have had no battery issues (31,000 miles to date). The sad thing is I have a gel that was put out to pasture before it's time due to a misdiagnosis.
I would check for some kind of drain on your battery; otherwise, I fear you could make the same mistake I did.

 

[grossjohann]

- I have a 2004 1150 RT -
After 3 years of riding (49,000 miles), my battery is not holding a charge and needs my BMW battery charger operating DAILY or the battery just goes CLICK...CLICK...CLICK. The terminal connections are clean and tight.

Any suggestions?.....or should I just buy a different brand?

Sounds like it could be an electrical problem. If you are sure that you're not running too many devices, then it could be a "ground" or "short" which is draining the battery faster than it can be charged while riding. I suppose it also could have something to do with the charger, or how it is being used.

Have you talked with the dealer?

 

[jingdog]

http://www.breiterbatteries.com/mobility_12v_200ah.htm

 

[globalrider]

Any suggestions?.....or should I just buy a different brand?

Even though I still have the original gel battery in my 2003 GS Adventure (bought July 03) making it just over 4 full years old, I can say I'm not overly impressed with the BMW Exide Gel Battery...or gel batteries in general, if they are all like that. Once again, BMW answered a question that nobody asked, at least I didn't.

Last Sunday was the first time the battery didn't start my GS without first putting a one-hour charge on it at 900 mA. Normally it sits without a battery maintainer connected, which you shouldn't have to do in the first place...and certainly not when parked a month.

My BMW Mareg flooded lead acid batteries in my airheads last me 8+ full years and they work right till the end, showing no signs of slowing down until the last few months.

I might try a Panasonic battery when the time comes. I have a lot of faith in their battery products, with their car battery 8+ years old in my car and 17+ years old in a car I sold...and still cranking at sub-zero temps last winter.

 

[dbOnIce]

Strange electrical thing

Last month my '04 RS sputtered to a stop on a gravel road deep in the Northern Wisconsin hunting wilderness, Rustic Road #95 to be exact. This was after at least 3 hours on the Highway. When I tried to restart it the started solenoid just chattered like dead battery or a bad connection problem.
My considerate riding parteners and I chatted about our options for about 15 to 20 minutes, at which time I pulled the headlight wire off unplugged the radar detector, and decided to saddle up and pretend like it would start. It started and we rode on to our destination and the next day we rode to the Porques' in the U.P. and back to the resort and the following day rode 5 hours back to Minnesota...all without boosting the battery from any source but the alternator.
Upon arriving home I plugged in the battery tender and it went to Maint. mode within the hour. Also a similar situation had occured approx. 3000 miles ago
Charging voltage sits around the 14.5 to 15 V range.

I was thinking I might cure it by replacing the battery but this thread has me wondering...
Is this some sort of Oilhead trend?

 

[jgr451]

Dunno.Me?04 K1200GT,still on the original battery,no charger but i ride pretty much year round,though not much from Oct-march for rainy season.

 

[globalrider]

Charging voltage sits around the 14.5 to 15 V range.

Isn't that a bit high, especially after all the talk about the battery charger not exceeding 14.4V.

 

[RONDO]

- I have a 2004 1150 RT -
After 3 years of riding (49,000 miles), my battery is not holding a charge and needs my BMW battery charger operating DAILY or the battery just goes CLICK...CLICK...CLICK. The terminal connections are clean and tight.

I can't justify $120.00 for another BMW battery that will "quit working" in 1.5 years.

Any suggestions?.....or should I just buy a different brand?

Allan Ruprecht
Northville, Michigan

This shouldn't happen multiple battery failure would indicate the bike might be killing them.

Check for 2 things

Alternator output (amps & volts) , too low or high = slow battery death
Parasitic drain = is something drawing down the battery when parked.

Dave

 

[REBGEN]

I installed an Odyssey PC-680 glass mat battery in my R1200 C three years ago and haven't looked back. It has a two year shelf life. I took it out of the box, installed it in my bike, and started it right up. I haven't used a battery charger in three years. It's one sturdy battery.


http://www.odysseybatteries.com/

 

[kbasa]

- I have a 2004 1150 RT -
After 3 years of riding (49,000 miles), my battery is not holding a charge and needs my BMW battery charger operating DAILY or the battery just goes CLICK...CLICK...CLICK. The terminal connections are clean and tight.

I can't justify $120.00 for another BMW battery that will "quit working" in 1.5 years.

Any suggestions?.....or should I just buy a different brand?

Allan Ruprecht
Northville, Michigan

Have you ever changed your alternator belt?

 

[PETDOC]

Last month my '04 RS sputtered to a stop on a gravel road deep in the Northern Wisconsin hunting wilderness, Rustic Road #95 to be exact. This was after at least 3 hours on the Highway. When I tried to restart it the started solenoid just chattered like dead battery or a bad connection problem.
My considerate riding parteners and I chatted about our options for about 15 to 20 minutes, at which time I pulled the headlight wire off unplugged the radar detector, and decided to saddle up and pretend like it would start. It started and we rode on to our destination and the next day we rode to the Porques' in the U.P. and back to the resort and the following day rode 5 hours back to Minnesota...all without boosting the battery from any source but the alternator.
Upon arriving home I plugged in the battery tender and it went to Maint. mode within the hour. Also a similar situation had occured approx. 3000 miles ago
Charging voltage sits around the 14.5 to 15 V range.

I was thinking I might cure it by replacing the battery but this thread has me wondering...
Is this some sort of Oilhead trend?

You may want to read my thread on ADVRIDER (http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157575&highlight=petdoc) when I was trying to figure out a similar problem. Turned out to be my starter all along and I chose to replace vs rebuild it. Never looked back, but still feel bad about replacing my perfectly good battery before it needed to be replaced.

 

[Ozonkiller]

Check for current draws as the bike sits in your garage. It's amazing how much current some of the gadgets draw, even when they're turned off!

 

[dbOnIce]

Main difference

You may want to read my thread on ADVRIDER (http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157575&highlight=petdoc) when I was trying to figure out a similar problem. Turned out to be my starter all along and I chose to replace vs rebuild it. Never looked back, but still feel bad about replacing my perfectly good battery before it needed to be replaced.

Good info,
However both times this happened to me the engine was running, started running rough then sputtered and died. And, the second time I had been on the highway for 3 hours before slowing down to run in 3rd gear on a dirt road.
The failure to start was after the main technical failure and, that is the only time the bike has failed to start, while I have owned it. ( 10 months, 6,000 miles )

 

[PETDOC]

Good info,
However both times this happened to me the engine was running, started running rough then sputtered and died. And, the second time I had been on the highway for 3 hours before slowing down to run in 3rd gear on a dirt road.
The failure to start was after the main technical failure and, that is the only time the bike has failed to start, while I have owned it. ( 10 months, 6,000 miles )

May want to check wiring on Hall effect sensor. Although with most of those which have an intermittent failure it occurs during or shortly after riding in the rain.

 

[dbOnIce]

Just a wild conjecture

I have run a headlight modulator all year untill the last episode, because I liked the conspicuity of it. (down right anoying sometimes). I had the wild thought that maybe the frequency of the modulation or the constant load change might have a detrimental effect on the alternator output control circuitry.

I have removed it now and am going to replace the battery this winter. If no more episodes in the early part of next year I will reintroduce the modulator. That may give me some solid info I can share.
Also, I am looking for a voltmeter I like, for casual monitoring. Or, maybe I will pack my Fluke data logging scope meter if the problem continues to be elusive.
( hate to give up the pack space though, especially when 2 up.)

 

[mathew_hennessy]

BTW, I'd like to ++ the use of AGM batteries to replace BMW Gel units. After 2 BMW gel batteries dying on my 2001 1150GS, I got an AGM and I've been happy ever since. IMHO, Gel batteries are old tech that's junk compared to AGM.

AGMs are also less sensitive to charger inputs than BMW stockers, and can be used with fast chargers (I remove mine from the bike for this) or with your everyday Battery Tender.

 

[twins4life]

I have run a headlight modulator all year untill the last episode, because I liked the conspicuity of it. (down right anoying sometimes).

I run a headlight mudulator on both BMW's and several other bikes including my R-90/6 and have never had an issue. The batteries either never failed or failed from old age.

FYI

 

[1990K1]

I installed an Odyssey PC-680 glass mat battery in my R1200 C three years ago and haven't looked back. It has a two year shelf life. I took it out of the box, installed it in my bike, and started it right up. I haven't used a battery charger in three years. It's one sturdy battery.


http://www.odysseybatteries.com/

I agree... I installed an Odyssey 925 AGM in my K about two years ago and even though I've ridden the bike maybe three times since then it still cranks over and starts effortlessly when I have taken it out.