Aux Sat Nav Connection

General discussion of the BMW R1200RT/R1250RT
bikegeezer
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Aux Sat Nav Connection

Post by bikegeezer »

Hi all,


I'm new to this forum and the 1200RT and was hoping someone may be able to help.


I recently fitted a Tom Tom rider to my 2007 RT and connected it to the canbus connection just in front of the headstock using Nippy Normans connector.


Before fitting I turned on the ignition, connected my meter then turned the ignition off.  I noticed it switch off after about a minute after switching off the ignition.


All is working fine but I've noticed that the sat nav switches off with random times after the ignition is off; sometime 1 minute, sometimes 5, 10 minutes.  Sat nav is set to sleep immediately after power is switched off.


Is this normal, or is there some setting I need to look at on the bike? 
ds99
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Re: Aux Sat Nav Connection

Post by ds99 »

i have a 2007 RT and i wired my Satnav into the live/neutral that feeds the aux power socket (on the left panel, looks like a mini cigarette lighter). its separate from the canbus and is controlled by the ignition. it remains live for about 2 mins after the ignitions is off.


it works fine.
Stratman
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Joined: Mon May 09, 2016 3:26 pm

Re: Aux Sat Nav Connection

Post by Stratman »

I have a 2007 also. I wired direct to the battery via a fused connection. Benefit - it doesn't go off when you are plotting a route with the ignition off!
guest2360

Re: Aux Sat Nav Connection

Post by guest2360 »

On a Garmin connected through the correct socket immediately you turn off the ignition the screen will tell you you have lost external power.  You are prompted to stay on or turn off. Leave it and it will count down and go off.  If you turn off it will go blank.  However when the canbus goes off about 40 seconds later it will switch it back on and you have to cancel again or leave it to auto switch off after 30 seconds.
ds99
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Re: Aux Sat Nav Connection

Post by ds99 »

this is why i did not wire mine into the canbus. i read too many stories about the canbus gps live feed remaining live after ignition off and the battery draining
guest2360

Re: Aux Sat Nav Connection

Post by guest2360 »

Remember the front GPS connection is designed to connect to the cradle of a BMW Navigator.  It might be Garmin made and based on some like the 660 but it has different softwear and connections.  Connect anything else to it using a Nippy Norman bodge cable or whatever and it’s not a surprise that it’s sometimes flattens the battery
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Levisp
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Re: Aux Sat Nav Connection

Post by Levisp »

RTman10 wrote: Remember the front GPS connection is designed to connect to the cradle of a BMW Navigator.  It might be Garmin made and based on some like the 660 but it has different softwear and connections.  Connect anything else to it using a Nippy Norman bodge cable or whatever and it’s not a surprise that it’s sometimes flattens the battery

Maybe in that case BMW should not have supplied an additional aux power plug in their wiring harness. Saying its the fault of a Nippy Normans plug which I believe can be bought from BMW is not very helpful. All the additional lead does is supply a switchable power source. If BMW Canbus software cannot cope with this then maybe it should be rewritten or BMW should not have supplied the plug in their wiring harness in the first place.
guest2360

Re: Aux Sat Nav Connection

Post by guest2360 »

Levisp wrote:
Maybe in that case BMW should not have supplied an additional aux power plug in their wiring harness. Saying its the fault of a Nippy Normans plug which I believe can be bought from BMW is not very helpful. All the additional lead does is supply a switchable power source. If BMW Canbus software cannot cope with this then maybe it should be rewritten or BMW should not have supplied the plug in their wiring harness in the first place.

So you think a manufacturer who goes to the problem and expense of designing a system to work on their vehicles should also make sure it will work with everybody’s kit.  Why would they.  Incidently the cable used to connect other items is in fact a BMW car ignition part that just happens to work if you don’t use all three cables.
ds99
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Re: Aux Sat Nav Connection

Post by ds99 »

There are lots of threads on various bike forums about the canbus feed remaining live after shutdown, and and hence the battery going flat overnight


I think this could be because if the canbus system detects any power usage, it will remain live. And some GPS cradles/units draw power even when off, as they still convert the voltage from 12v to 5v, and hence there is a very small power draw, this "fools" the canbus into remaining 'live'.


Or something like that
Last edited by ds99 on Fri Jul 27, 2018 10:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Levisp
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Re: Aux Sat Nav Connection

Post by Levisp »

RTman10 wrote:
So you think a manufacturer who goes to the problem and expense of designing a system to work on their vehicles should also make sure it will work with everybody’s kit.  Why would they.  Incidently the cable used to connect other items is in fact a BMW car ignition part that just happens to work if you don’t use all three cables.

Fair enough but thats not my point. Why supply an additional aux power plug in the wiring harness. Its not needed to power the BMW Garmin setup. So whats it for ? Why go to the expense ? As for Nippy Norman plug, its just a plug !
guest2360

Re: Aux Sat Nav Connection

Post by guest2360 »

Levisp wrote:
Fair enough but thats not my point. Why supply an additional aux power plug in the wiring harness. Its not needed to power the BMW Garmin setup. So whats it for ? Why go to the expense ? As for Nippy Norman plug, its just a plug !

Yes it is.  It’s where the Navigator cradle is plugged in.  It has no other function. 
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Levisp
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Re: Aux Sat Nav Connection

Post by Levisp »

RTman10 wrote:
Yes it is.  It’s where the Navigator cradle is plugged in.  It has no other function.

Not on mine. Below is a pic of my BMW Garmin Nav lead. The bigger white plug is the one that goes into the bikes harness. The smaller one with black tape over it is just spare. On the bike this spare plug is just zipped tied to the harness. I put insulating tape over it to stop moisture getting into it. Its this plug the spare one that the Nippy's additional power lead plugs into.


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Last edited by Levisp on Fri Jul 27, 2018 9:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
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David.
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Great Britain

Re: Aux Sat Nav Connection

Post by David. »

I've got the BMW plug connected to my Garmin Zumo 660 cradle, plugged into the aux. socket on the wiring harness, works a treat. This is how the BMW dealer installed it on my first 2010 TC and I transferred to my 2012 TC. With the sat. nav. in the cradle, when the ignition is switched off, after a short while the sat. nav. prompts me to say that the external power supply has been lost. I can either select "stay on" or "switch off", if it's just left to switch itself off, when the ignition is next switched on, the sat. nav. powers up again. Never had a problem with power drain or a flat battery.
ds99
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Re: Aux Sat Nav Connection

Post by ds99 »

I think a lot of it depends on the model of GPS you have and if the GPS Unit or Cradle draws any power when in the off/standby mode.


plenty of threads about this on bike forums


eg


[size=2px]https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.ph ... AD-BATTERY[/size]
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Levisp
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Re: Aux Sat Nav Connection

Post by Levisp »

ds99 wrote: i have a 2007 RT and i wired my Satnav into the live/neutral that feeds the aux power socket (on the left panel, looks like a mini cigarette lighter). its separate from the canbus and is controlled by the ignition. it remains live for about 2 mins after the ignitions is off.


it works fine.

I'm at the moment using my iPhone as a SatNav. Its powered using a USB wireless charger. The power comes from a USB plug that goes into the aux socket on the right of the bike. I once left it plugged in and the result was a flat battery. I now always unplug. So it looks like to me that on 2014 bikes the aux socket is controlled by the Canbus. The iPhone is using Tomtom Mobile Go app. Works well but its only temporary. I would like to buy the new Rider 550. It has many advantages over the BMW Garmin. Problem is powering it without these Canbus problems. I was going to reinstall the BMW Garmin harness and use the spare aux socket but it would seem that has issues.
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