Battery Tender and Flashing Lights

[sloopy_farklehump]

Have you ever come home from a ride and plugged in your battery tender? I did last night and was surprised when it took 20 minutes for the flashing green light to come on. What was even more surprising (at least to me) was that 4 hours later the green light hadn't changed from falshing to steady.

Does anyone know if this is normal?

[jm1515]

Have you ever come home from a ride and plugged in your battery tender? I did last night and was surprised when it took 20 minutes for the flashing green light to come on. What was even more surprising (at least to me) was that 4 hours later the green light hadn't changed from falshing to steady.

Does anyone know if this is normal?

Your battery could be low..either because it's wearing down, or maybe your alternator is not putting out enuf juice. This of course is given that your charger is OK....
On my 04, bought in May 05, w/ the BMW gel battery and using the official, BMW-approved charger made by Deltran, I plug in the charger after almost every ride.
It normally takes less than 1min for the green to start flashing (indicating at least 80% charge) and it does take a long time to go steady.....>3hrs

BTW...I have a VDO voltmeter connected directly to the battery thru a switch, and after an initial surge to ~14v when getting underway, it settles in the 13.7~13.8v range and stays there.....

[Martyn]

You might also like to check that the socket, assuming you're using the socket on the left side, is OK. My Optimate (battery tender) indicated a problem with the battery, which was only a few weeks old.
Closer inspection showed corrosion inside the socket. Two minutes with switch cleaner & all was well again.