Beemster Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I have seen prior posts that talk about using a power plug near the front fork area for powering GPS units. Specifically they talk about the 1200GS having this spare plug, but no mention of the 1200RT specifically. Does the RT have this spare GPS plug? I seem to see a capped plug down lower, under my front fairing. Is this the same aformentioned plug? Thanks, B Link to comment
Firefight911 Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Yep. Just get the BMW repair connector and it will plug right in. Link to comment
ltljohn Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Is this also true for the 1150 RT? Link to comment
T__ Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 John, no not on the 1150 but if your 1150 has a radio wire harness in it (early ones came with it standard) but no radio you have battery power, ign power, & ground available right there in the unused radio connector in front of the glove box.. Twisty Link to comment
ltljohn Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I am using the B+ in that plug now. I did not realize there was a switchd power in there also. Thanks. Link to comment
T__ Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 John, yes there is,, BUT in a lot of cases without a factory radio there will be no #8 fuse in the fuse box.. So if you don’t have ign power in that radio connector put a fuse in the #8 position in the under seat fuse box.. Twisty Link to comment
DavidEBSmith Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I am using the B+ in that plug now. I did not realize there was a switchd power in there also. If the wiring on the 1150 is the same as on the 1100, there's a red+something wire that is always hot, and a purple+something wire that is switched off when the ignition is in Lock and on when the ignition is Off or On. Link to comment
der Wanderer Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 This thread is a perfect example of the value I find in reading this Forum. Little nuggets that equate to huge gain of time and money - plus it feels good. Probably illegal, or I should be paying taxes on it. Link to comment
Nice n Easy Rider Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 This thread is a perfect example of the value I find in reading this Forum. Little nuggets that equate to huge gain of time and money - plus it feels good. Probably illegal, or I should be paying taxes on it. Don't give them any ideas. Link to comment
Toad Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 What if one wished to hard wire a GPS unit in a R1200RT? Any wires known to be able to get power from? Link to comment
T__ Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Toad, yes, right up in front of the steering neck.. Problem is that connector is controlled by the ZFE module so stays on a while after key down.. No biggie on some GPS units but on others like the Garmin Zumo the GPS can come back on by itself as the ZFE shuts the system off.. The best way is to hard wire it directly to the battery with a fuse right at the battery.. That also gives a place where a standard battery charger can be hooked up without using that expensive BMW can bus charger.. You can easily run a wire harness directly to the battery without even removing the Tupperware (just the seat) .. Twisty Link to comment
Toad Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Toad, yes, right up in front of the steering neck.. Problem is that connector is controlled by the ZFE module so stays on a while after key down.. No biggie on some GPS units but on others like the Garmin Zumo the GPS can come back on by itself as the ZFE shuts the system off.. The best way is to hard wire it directly to the battery with a fuse right at the battery.. That also gives a place where a standard battery charger can be hooked up without using that expensive BMW can bus charger.. You can easily run a wire harness directly to the battery without even removing the Tupperware (just the seat) .. Twisty Thanks Twisty. That is my plan. I will hard wire to the battery. How do you get the wires past the Tupperware(I love that reference!)? Link to comment
smiller Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I used to run accessories directly to the battery but when added up they produced a parasitic drain that caused me issues if the bike sat very long. I was surprised to find that even my V1 drew current when turned off (I had assumed that it didn't due to the hard-contact on/off switch, but I was wrong. Same with my Garmin 2610.) I use a switched or ZFE output now. This may or may not be an issue depending of what you have connected but if you go directly to the battery be sure to at least check for quiescent power draw. Link to comment
DavidEBSmith Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I used to run accessories directly to the battery but when added up they produced a parasitic drain that caused me issues if the bike sat very long. I was surprised to find that even my V1 drew current when turned off (I had assumed that it didn't due to the hard-contact on/off switch, but I was wrong.) I use a switched or ZFE output now. What I found with the V1 is that if you have the remote display connected, there's a substantial parasitic drain even with the power switch off. I haven't noticed a parasitic drain with the V1 and the remote audio adapter without the remote display. But, I recently added a separate power switch for my V1 anyway because I was tired of having to readjust the volume level on the remote audio adapter. Link to comment
T__ Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Toad, yes, right up in front of the steering neck.. Problem is that connector is controlled by the ZFE module so stays on a while after key down.. No biggie on some GPS units but on others like the Garmin Zumo the GPS can come back on by itself as the ZFE shuts the system off.. The best way is to hard wire it directly to the battery with a fuse right at the battery.. That also gives a place where a standard battery charger can be hooked up without using that expensive BMW can bus charger.. You can easily run a wire harness directly to the battery without even removing the Tupperware (just the seat) .. Twisty Thanks Twisty. That is my plan. I will hard wire to the battery. How do you get the wires past the Tupperware(I love that reference!)? Toad, if you remove the seat you will see the battery.. Just to the left side of the battery about even with or just slightly above the battery top you will see a space between the L/H Tupperware & the frame.. Take a piece of stiff wire (we call it mechanics wire) about 3’-4’ long,, bend the end over about ½” then flatten it with a hammer or pliers (that is to put a friendly end on the wire).. Then push/work that wire through from the battery area along the L/H inside of the Tupperware until it comes out the front just to the left of the steering neck & just to the right of the fuel tank (probably just under the factory wire harness in that area).. Then use that wire you just pushed through to pull your real wire harness through.. I always encase my wire harnesses in the black plastic convoluted wire covering tubing as that protects it against abrasion & minor contact issues.. The wire will come out real close to the factory harness so just tie strap it to the factory harness then run it where you need it.. At the rear the wire harness will be right at the battery & easy to fuse & hook to the battery posts.. Probably take you less time to do it than it took me to type this.. Twisty Link to comment
T__ Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I used to run accessories directly to the battery but when added up they produced a parasitic drain that caused me issues if the bike sat very long. I was surprised to find that even my V1 drew current when turned off (I had assumed that it didn't due to the hard-contact on/off switch, but I was wrong. Same with my Garmin 2610.) I use a switched or ZFE output now. This may or may not be an issue depending of what you have connected but if you go directly to the battery be sure to at least check for quiescent power draw. Seth, that is the problem with someone just asking GPS install.. On your 2610 you can use the ZFE control & in fact it might be a better power supply.. But on the Zumo installations the rider will shut the Zumo down & walk away but as the ZFE shuts the can-system down the Zumo understands that power disruption as displacement in the cradle & (can) come back on using it’s internal battery.. If it’s on (but remember the rider shut it off) it will only power on battery for a few minutes then usually shut itself down.. But if it is already off it can power up on the battery & stay on.. Personally, I don’t ever like my GPS to power down during a days riding as it interferes with how my tracks are logged into memory & I heavily use my tracks as route guidance for future rides.. Everybody seems to have different ideas on how they want their GPS powered.. I just wish BMW would have put a B+ (non ZFE/can-bus controlled) easily accessible circuit on the late model RT’s.. Twisty Link to comment
smiller Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Seth, that is the problem with someone just asking GPS install.. On your 2610 you can use the ZFE control & in fact it might be a better power supply.. But on the Zumo installations the rider will shut the Zumo down & walk away but as the ZFE shuts the can-system down the Zumo understands that power disruption as displacement in the cradle & (can) come back on using it’s internal battery.. If it’s on (but remember the rider shut it off) it will only power on battery for a few minutes then usually shut itself down.. But if it is already off it can power up on the battery & stay on.. Can't that behavior simply be turned off? That would be a very annoying feature if impossible to disable. Link to comment
Matts_12GS Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I used to run accessories directly to the battery but when added up they produced a parasitic drain that caused me issues if the bike sat very long. I was surprised to find that even my V1 drew current when turned off (I had assumed that it didn't due to the hard-contact on/off switch, but I was wrong. Same with my Garmin 2610.) I use a switched or ZFE output now. This may or may not be an issue depending of what you have connected but if you go directly to the battery be sure to at least check for quiescent power draw. I have had similar issues with autocom as well. Keep a helmet plugged in they stay turned on... Link to comment
Tom B Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 That is why the Autocom instruction manuals recommend that you only connect your negative wire directly to the bikes battery and connect the positive wire via an ignition switched supply so that you don’t drain the battery when not using it. Autocom UK Tom Link to comment
T__ Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Seth, that is the problem with someone just asking GPS install.. On your 2610 you can use the ZFE control & in fact it might be a better power supply.. But on the Zumo installations the rider will shut the Zumo down & walk away but as the ZFE shuts the can-system down the Zumo understands that power disruption as displacement in the cradle & (can) come back on using it’s internal battery.. If it’s on (but remember the rider shut it off) it will only power on battery for a few minutes then usually shut itself down.. But if it is already off it can power up on the battery & stay on.. Can't that behavior simply be turned off? That would be a very annoying feature if impossible to disable. Seth, no not really.. It is ONLY annoying if the unit is used on a system like the BMW that powers down by itself at a later time.. If you remove the unit from the cradle no problem.. If you leave it on & powered up then walk away no problem as it will (should) turn itself off (hopefully) a short time after the ZFE shuts down (but you aren’t usually there to verify it).. If used on an ign powered source no problem.. If used on a battery direct power source no problem.. I just wire mine direct to battery as I don’t like my GPS shutting down with the ign switch anyhow.. Works just fine that way.. Most people pull the unit from cradle when they walk away from the bike anyway so in that case it can’t be an issue.. Twisty Link to comment
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