K1600 - Quadlock waterproof wireless charger

Wapping · Feb 20, 2023

If you fit one of these and power it from the OEM socket to the right of the fairing, take a bit of care.

The charger stays live, the canbus seeing it as something that has to be powered. I don’t know how much it draws without a phone attached, but it might be enough to flatten the bike’s battery overnight.

It only stays live if the charger is ‘on’ when the ignition is turned off. I had expected it to turn off when the canbus shut down about 30 to 40 after the ignition is turned off. It doesn’t, it stays live.

Big Si · Feb 20, 2023

I have the Quadlock sae to charging head adapter on both the Goldwing and my Harley. Both mine switch on and off with the ignition as they should. :nenau

Wapping · Feb 20, 2023

I unfortunately have neither of those bikes.

Big Si · Feb 20, 2023

Wapping said:
I unfortunately have neither of those bikes.

or an actual quadlock sae adapter

Wapping · Feb 21, 2023

Indeed not.

Is your power supply to the wireless charger wired directly to the battery? Mine isn’t.

I have taken the power from the OEM socket of the 1600, up on the upper right of the fairing. This socket is only live when the ignition is on, which should (in theory at least) make it perfect for powering devices that do not need a permanent power supply. I was surprised that the bike, with its ignition off, ‘sees’ the wireless charger as something that needs to be kept live. It’s easy enough to turn off, using the button on the rear of the wireless charger.

I will though take a look at the charging head adapter, thank you for the tip. I dislike wiring things directly to the battery (too many bikes end up with a mess of spaghetti coming off the battery terminals) but hopefully I should be able to adapt the charging head adapter to run from the switched supply instead.

Big Si · Feb 21, 2023

Wapping said:
Indeed not.

Is your power supply to the wireless charger wired directly to the battery? Mine isn’t.

I have taken the power from the OEM socket of the 1600, up on the upper right of the fairing. This socket is only live when the ignition is on, which should (in theory at least) make it perfect for powering devices that do not need a permanent power supply. I was surprised that the bike, with its ignition off, ‘sees’ the wireless charger as something that needs to be kept live. It’s easy enough to turn off, using the button on the rear of the wireless charger.

I will though take a look at the charging head adapter, thank you for the tip. I dislike wiring things directly to the battery (too many bikes end up with a mess of spaghetti coming off the battery terminals) but hopefully I should be able to adapt the charging head adapter to run from the switched supply instead.

On both bikes I have fitted a power distribution block, both fed from a switched live source. Both my bikes have a canbus system but your BMW system must be slightly different if it continues to try to power it. I used the Healtech "Thunderbox" on the Goldwing as the electronics are more elaborate and sensitive. It's small, tidy and easy to use. It's also separately fused so you can't do any harm. https://www.healtech-electronics.com/products/tb/
Check for compatibility on the product page on the link.

Wapping · Feb 21, 2023

Thank you.

Big Si · Feb 21, 2023

Wapping said:
Thank you.

I was just on the Quadlock site for another reason and I saw that they have a new adapter that can be on/off/or automatic which may be of interest? https://www.quadlockcase.co.uk/coll...v-to-usb-smart-adaptor?variant=41600491552943

Wapping · Feb 21, 2023

Thank you, again.

That might well do the trick. I am going to ask the question of Quadlock directly, too.

Wapping · Feb 21, 2023

I have emailed a question to QuodLock, asking about the problem and, more specifically, whether they have a cure. I suspect that it might well lie in the item linked by Big Si in post #8.

The other solution might be to power the charger via a relay, where the very small draw from the charger at rest should be insufficient to trigger the relay, not lesat as the bike's ignition will be off. I do this for the supply to my XT and to the remote controller for my electric liners, all without a problem and neither of which stay live. The linked item from Big Si in post #6 seems to be some sort of digital relay; mine is a somewhat cruder Fuse Block but they work the same way.

Wapping · Feb 22, 2023

No news from Quadlock.

As cure is sometimes better than prevention, I took the lot apart and reconnected it all…. Bingo! The charger now shuts down when the canbus closes, roughly 45 seconds after the ignition is turned off. That is what I always thought it should do.

Why it refused to do so originally, I have no idea.

Anyway, thanks for the links etc.

PS For what it’s worth, the SAE to USB adapter, was one I found kicking around in my box of spare wires and plugs. It was just a cheap thing of eBay originally. I have wrapped it in self-amalgamating tape to (hopefully) keep the damp and water out.

K1600 - Quadlock waterproof wireless charger

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