Electronics » My Battery has died.

The original battery on my 2016 SE has finally died. After two failed starts I have decided to replace it. It will start the bike if left on trickle charge but I won't chance it on my forthcoming continental trip.
The original is of the sealed type and is quite small in size. It sits on a packing spacer.
I have replaced it with a Yuasa AGM which just fits in the enclosure with the spacer removed.
I have never had more than a couple of years out of the sealed gel type batteries, hopefully this one will last a bit longer.
Alan

I had the shop do a load test on both of our batteries last year. Both failed and were replaced under warranty.
The service manager mentioned the spacer was removed because the replacement battery BMW calls for is physically bigger.

Lee
It is indeed a small battery for a bike of this size. It is interesting that the recommended replacement is bigger with more capacity and higher cranking amps.
Alan

Zitat von Alda im Beitrag #3

---

Lee
It is indeed a small battery for a bike of this size. It is interesting that the recommended replacement is bigger with more capacity and higher cranking amps.
Alan

---

Hi all
My 2015 bike is just 3 years old havent had any issues load tested ok only use my charger over winter now and again to boost due to cold conditions.
load test carried out by me not the dealer
As I have the test kit for work
Brian

http://www.actmeters.co.uk/battery-testi...-battery-tester

Link to battery tester

I’ve always been a bit obsessive about keeping my batteries charged. I use a charging pigtail that measures voltage and has red/yellow/green LEDs to reveal charge levels. When I get a yellow light, I hook up my charger. Both my Guzzi’s and my Triumph’s original batteries lasted ten years with this approach...

Zitat von Gaucho im Beitrag #4

---

[quote=Alda|p2768]Lee
It is indeed a small battery for a bike of this size. It is interesting that the recommended replacement is bigger with more capacity and higher cranking amps.
Alan

---

I have posted elsewhere about my RS not starting, and said I would address the battery issues by a separate post. So imagine my surprise when I found this new battery post.
I can confirm that the POS standard battery is NOT a Yuasa YTZ14 S. It is a much smaller, and not commercially available Yuasa YTX 14S MF.
As far as its dimensions are concerned it is basically a 90 mm wide, by 150 long by about 110 high battery. If anyone really wants to know I will post the exact dimensions in the next week.
The charts for the YTZ14S shows it to be 145 or 150 high.
As was noted at the beginning of this thread, this nasty little cost saving POS is made to fit with the foam platform underneath.
I am trying to locate the slightly larger in capacity, but same size Yuasa with is a G** 16H (forgot the code) and will see if I can get it next week.

For those who have removed the battery, they can stop reading here.

For those who have not, once you have done it, it is a piece of cake; but it is not obvious.

You remove the side cover - 1 T30 driver
You remove the earth wire (10 mm bolt)
You pull off the rubber strap which is secured by 2 pins on the bottom of the battery tray.
You grip the plastic retaining / cage piece at the point where the lower pin from the side cover goes through the grommet and you pull up and out. It swings out at the bottom and the upper pieces which are pins either side of the battery, rotate and release the piece. You must be firm.
Moving the battery out is a pain. There is a lip on the battery tray you have to lift the battery over; but the battery sits on the foam pad, and it is covered in a foam sheath. It is very hard to lift and pull, there is very little to work with or to grab.
I used a flat piece of steel. In my case it is the tool you use to pop off interior panels on cars. I wiggled it under the battery, pried down to lift the battery over the lip, and out it slid.
The positive terminal is easy to get to at that point.
Just remember to remove the earth terminals first, and to attach them last.
Re-assembly is just the reverse, but it is easier to push the battery back in than to pull it out.

Blimey that sounds like a challenge! Thanks for the detailed procedure AI - just hope I can find this post as and when my battery needs changing!

I have found out that the GTX 16 AH Yuasa is not available in Australia. There was no demand for it, or so they say.

I have been messing with the battery a bit more. I had run a number of 12 V feeds from the accessible post and, frankly, there was too much wire.

Now that I have found how easy it is to access the primary + post, I made up a harness into a shielded / fused wire, and managed to feed that through the frame to a location under the seat; fixing it with zip ties.

The new harness has a SAE 2 pin plug (for my air pump) and a special pigtail for the battery charger.

Because the battery unloads to the right, the harness is not tightened when the battery is removed. There is plenty of room in the box for the wire.

BTW I had a much closer look (it is amazing what daylight allows you to see) at the battery box.

The battery clip has three nipples (I know Bravo will get excited here). 2 of them are at the side, and slide into small pits. They look like hinge pins.

The bottom of the clip has a larger nipple, and it fits "over" the edge of the battery tray, and "under" the battery itself, and is locked into place by the edge.

There will be less messing about with the 145 mm tall replacement battery because the factory fitted foam pad moves independently of the battery.

The 2 further nipples on the bottom of the battery tray are for the rubber strap attachment that goes on the outside of the clip.

The clip has a provision to allow you to tuck the earth cable into it, keeping things neat.

i would add that when taking the battery cover off/reinstalling it, the holes in which the locating pins fit have grommets - these grommets are easily dislodged and lost. They can be glued in place to avoid this happening.

I agree, but I couldn't really be bothered, so I used good old-fashioned spit on the pins from the cover. After 2.5 years the grommets have assumed a "relaxed" position, and they stay in place (so far).
And, don't those plastic pins taste goooood!

I have now replaced the battery. It cost me just under $200 AUD from a local supplier. I could not get Yuasa so I ended up with a "Deka" ETX14 which has the dimensions of 90 x 150 x 145.
These are the published dimensions for the Yuasa YTZ14S, but they are not the dimensions of the M(anufactuers) F(itment) original battery. That battery is 90 x 150 x 110.
The foam pad / platform under the battery makes up the 35 mm height difference.
The MF battery is said to be an 11.2 AH and it weighs 3.9 kg
The Deka claims 12 AH and it weighs 5.4 kg.
Others on the forum who are more literate with the power ratings may be able to spot performance differences between the Deka and the Yuasa that explain the 1.5 kg weight penalty. For me, the standard Yuasa has always been problematic, with a static charge measured on the Nav V often being between 11.9 and 12.1 volts.
It may be the Deka will be the same - sometimes too much information is not a good thing.