Tyre Pressure Sensor Wake-up Tool and Sensor Battery Replacement

18148 Views 44 Replies 12 Participants Last post by home4sale2, 3 d ago

mcmonkey mcbean

Discussion Starter · Nov 2, 2017

If you have had to install new tyre pressure monitor sensors to your wheels

Your need your GS-911 and a 'Tyre Pressure Sensor wake up tool'

I used this, bought off E-Bay, cost 12 pounds, worked a treat :grin2:

TP Monitor System

Activation Car Tyre pressor monitor
made for SPX GM

Electronic device Gadget Technology Mobile phone Communication Device

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Panzermann

· #21 · Mar 18, 2021

MichaelD said:
Worth noting is that the battery is NOT a CR2032 but a CR2050

First I've heard that – thanks Michael. I'm about to do my rear sensor in the next week or two.

MichaelD

· #22 · Mar 19, 2021

Panzermann, forgot to mention that I measured the 2050 battery (6 years old) at 2.95V and the new 2032 at 3.2V. Maybe that's got something to do with the issue.

Reactions: 1

Panzermann

· #23 · Apr 2, 2021

RDC/Tyre pressure sensor battery replacement

The time came this arvo to fit new tyres in anticipation of a trip to Tassie in a couple weeks. I took the opportunity to change the RDC sensor batteries. Some time ago I procured a pair Chinese ‘Shrader’ sensors online as the rear had been playing up. Since reinvigorating them a while back with the wake-up tool, they’ve been fine, but with five years and 95,000 km under the belt, it wasn’t surprising that the GS911 reported low battery state. Rather than take a chance on the knock-offs, I decided to replace the batteries.

CR2050 batteries aren’t readily available hereabouts, and I wanted batteries with solder connections rather than rely on maintaining tension on the terminals detached from the original battery. I settled on PC mount CR2032 versions and fitted them using fly leads so that connectivity was by solder rather than simply contact. To further facilitate battery replacement in the future, I cut a piece of plastic from a yoghurt tub lid as a cover and hot-glued it in place. It only needs to be an environmental seal rather than hold the battery in place - the battery I chose fits snugly, and centrifugal force presses it against its mount, reinforcing its stability. Future battery changes when fitting new tyres will take only a few additional minutes, with no need to dig out glue or potting material, and soldering to fly leads is quick and easy.

Some tips:

There’s no need to take out all the old potting material (incidentally, a flexible material, so easy to cut). Run a sharp edge around the perimeter (I used the can opener blade on my old army knife), cut across the battery in two places with a craft knife to release a strip across the centre, then use a small, sharp chisel to remove the potting material at the same level as the top of the battery.
Lift the outer edge of the spot-welded upper (+ve) battery terminal and use needle-nose pliers to roll the terminal up to break the spot welds. Trim this terminal by about half.
Prise the battery up from the edge opposite the +ve terminal (the battery is glued in place) and detach the spot welded -ve terminal in the same manner (pretty tight getting pliers in there).
On the first sensor, I test fitted the new battery prior to folding back the -ve terminal, momentarily shorting the +ve and -ve terminals on the protruding +ve terminal of the sensor. This would have immediately drained some ergs from the battery, perhaps taking a couple years off its life. 🤦‍♂️ Fortunately it will now be an easy job to swap out the battery for a new one.

The old batteries were a tad under 3V, the new being 3.3V.

Removing the old rear tyre provided the opportunity to check out the Stop’n’Go tyre plug that’s been in place for quite a while now. Knowing the tyre was 90% worn at the time of the puncture and that I’d need to replace it before my next trip, I was happy to use it around town to get a bit more wear out of tyre. Looks pretty secure to me.

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dbrick

· #24 · Apr 2, 2021

Nicely done on both jobs, Panzermann.

Reactions: 1

Panzermann

· #25 · Apr 3, 2021 (Edited)

By the way, even if you don’t change your own tyres, you could change the battery in your sensors. Simply break the bead on one side, use a large Irwin clamp (or similar) to squeeze the sidewalls together next to the sensor (or two clamps, one either side). This will proved sufficient clearance to access the sensor.

EDIT: SEE SUBSEQUENT POSTS 30-32 FOR CAUTION

Gratuitous photo of old rear tyre gift wrapped for disposal:

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doc dogg

· #26 · Apr 4, 2021

I have a pair of chinesium sensors and a wake up tool just waiting for me to have a spare moment to install them on the R. I'm going to check them first by waking them up and using the GS911 to read them before touching the tyres.

Michael D

· #27 · Apr 9, 2021

Panzermann said:
RDC/Tyre pressure sensor battery replacement

The time came this arvo to fit new tyres in anticipation of a trip to Tassie in a couple weeks. I took the opportunity to change the RDC sensor batteries. Some time ago I procured a pair Chinese ‘Shrader’ sensors online as the rear had been playing up. Since reinvigorating them a while back with the wake-up tool, they’ve been fine, but with five years and 95,000 km under the belt, it wasn’t surprising that the GS911 reported low battery state. Rather than take a chance on the knock-offs, I decided to replace the batteries.

CR2050 batteries aren’t readily available hereabouts, and I wanted batteries with solder connections rather than rely on maintaining tension on the terminals detached from the original battery. I settled on PC mount CR2032 versions and fitted them using fly leads so that connectivity was by solder rather than simply contact. To further facilitate battery replacement in the future, I cut a piece of plastic from a yoghurt tub lid as a cover and hot-glued it in place. It only needs to be an environmental seal rather than hold the battery in place - the battery I chose fits snugly, and centrifugal force presses it against its mount, reinforcing its stability. Future battery changes when fitting new tyres will take only a few additional minutes, with no need to dig out glue or potting material, and soldering to fly leads is quick and easy.

Some tips:

There’s no need to take out all the old potting material (incidentally, a flexible material, so easy to cut). Run a sharp edge around the perimeter (I used the can opener blade on my old army knife), cut across the battery in two places with a craft knife to release a strip across the centre, then use a small, sharp chisel to remove the potting material at the same level as the top of the battery.

Lift the outer edge of the spot-welded upper (+ve) battery terminal and use needle-nose pliers to roll the terminal up to break the spot welds. Trim this terminal by about half.

Prise the battery up from the edge opposite the +ve terminal (the battery is glued in place) and detach the spot welded -ve terminal in the same manner (pretty tight getting pliers in there).

On the first sensor, I test fitted the new battery prior to folding back the -ve terminal, momentarily shorting the +ve and -ve terminals on the protruding +ve terminal of the sensor. This would have immediately drained some ergs from the battery, perhaps taking a couple years off its life. 🤦‍♂️ Fortunately it will now be an easy job to swap out the battery for a new one.

The old batteries were a tad under 3V, the new being 3.3V.

Removing the old rear tyre provided the opportunity to check out the Stop’n’Go tyre plug that’s been in place for quite a while now. Knowing the tyre was 90% worn at the time of the puncture and that I’d need to replace it before my next trip, I was happy to use it around town to get a bit more wear out of tyre. Looks pretty secure to me.

View attachment 110802

View attachment 110803

View attachment 110804

View attachment 110806

Panzerman, if you are coming down to Tassie soon, why not drop in for a coffee, or a free bed if that is of interest. My number is 0418573815.

Panzermann

· #28 · Apr 9, 2021

Cheers, @Michael D. I’m travelling with four other bikes and routes will depend somewhat on the weather, so not certain where we’ll be, when. What town/city are you in?

Panzermann

· #29 · Apr 9, 2021

Final follow-up. While the sensors were working fine with the new batteries, they were slow to start registering on the instrument panel. Hitting them with the wake-up tool seems to have solved this.

doc dogg

· #30 · Apr 9, 2021

Panzermann said:
By the way, even if you don’t change your own tyres, you could change the battery in your sensors. Simply break the bead on one side, use a large Irwin clamp (or similar) to squeeze the sidewalls together next to the sensor (or two clamps, one either side). This will proved sufficient clearance to access the sensor.

I've been at it for 2 hours. No matter how many clamps I use I can't get the lip of the tyre to clear the rear sensor. I've squeezed, wriggled, used some tyre levers...no go.

doc dogg

· #31 · Apr 9, 2021

I can see it, just not get to it...

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Panzermann

· #32 · Apr 9, 2021

Might have given you a bum steer, there, @doc dogg or despite Michelins having a very flexible carcass, perhaps my worn out one was much more flexible than yours. Or perhaps I was plain wrong in my imaginings.

If you pop the other bead, get some long HD zip ties and tie the L and R beads together every handspan or so around the tyre. You should be able to do this by hand, progressively around the tyre (if not, use the Irwin clamp). You’ll then easily lift the conjoined beads over the sensor with them well seated into the wheel well on the opposite side.

If you can’t get zip ties long enough, join two. Bunnings or Jaycar.

I use this technique to fit a new tyre. Some use it to remove the old one, but unless I’m going to re-use the tyre, I simply run a craft knife (box cutter) around the circumference and pull each side off separately. I use Windex as a lubricant and reuse the zip ties by releasing them with a small screwdriver.

Sorry I’ve put you to extra bother.

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doc dogg

· #33 · Apr 10, 2021

Might give the zip tie method a go today. Good excuse for a trip to Bunnings

Reactions: 1

doc dogg

· #34 · Apr 10, 2021

Bunnings trip postponed. I spent the morning trying to fix the TW. Runs on choke, but wont idle. I've cleaned the carby a few times in the ultrasonic cleaner and blew it out with air. Reset the pilot screw and turned it back and forth. I can get a slow, choppy idle for a minute, then it dies. Decided to give up and play Xbox with Lawrence.

doc dogg

· #35 · Sep 5, 2021

I had a spare afternoon for bike stuff so I had another crack at changing the sensors. I used the method featured on Chris Harris' Youtube channel ( below) as I had some timber lying about, plus the exact tyre levers he uses. I didn't have any fancy rim protectors, so I cut some generous squares off a thick plastic container.

(Warning: swearing)

I used the tie down bars on my trailer to wedge the "bead breaker timber" and with some hefty jiggles I managed to break the beads on both tyres. The rear was on tight! I had the trailer lifting with my lever a few times to break the bead. A mighty effort given the trailer weighs 1000kg and probably has another 500kg of palm trunks and fronds in it). With my new rim protectors and trusty tyre levers, I managed to get the tyres to separate from the rim and replace the sensors. Getting the front tyre back on was a breeze (did it totally by hand), but the rear took a bit of work and levering to get it back on. Everything is back on the bike and torqued to spec. I tried waking the sensors to get them to show up on the dash, but no luck. I'll hit them with the GS911 next weekend to see if they just need some recoding (hopefully that all it is, they worked when I tested them 5 months ago). If not, I'll replace the batteries in the OEM units and do the whole thing again (wiser and better prepared this time).

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sturgeon

· #36 · Sep 5, 2021

doc dogg said:
(Warning: swearing)

A wide vocabulary is an essential part of a motorcycle tire-changing toolkit 🤣🤣

When I was still changing tires regularly, back in my dual-sport days, I used these ...

BeadPro™ Tire Bead Breaker and Lever Tool Set - Motion Pro

Motion Pro - High quality cables, tools and controls for motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobiles and personal watercraft.

www.motionpro.com

Panzermann

· #37 · Sep 5, 2021

Chris Harris might get some argument about his description of the tyre dot. See below.
I was also surprised he didn’t use anything to protect the rims from the levers.

Seeing Spots? | Toyo Tires Australia

What’s the deal with those tyre dots?

www.toyotires.com.au

doc dogg

· #38 · Sep 6, 2021

Panzermann said:
I was also surprised he didn’t use anything to protect the rims from the levers.

He does in other videos of him removing tyres by hand.

I started cutting out the black stuff in the OEM sensors to do a battery replacement. The front was soft, but the rear one is hard as nails. Might have to buy a dremel once lockdown is over to get that one fixed.

home4sale2

· #39 · 17 d ago (Edited)

Panzermann said:
RDC/Tyre pressure sensor battery replacement

The time came this arvo to fit new tyres in anticipation of a trip to Tassie in a couple weeks. I took the opportunity to change the RDC sensor batteries. Some time ago I procured a pair Chinese ‘Shrader’ sensors online as the rear had been playing up. Since reinvigorating them a while back with the wake-up tool, they’ve been fine, but with five years and 95,000 km under the belt, it wasn’t surprising that the GS911 reported low battery state. Rather than take a chance on the knock-offs, I decided to replace the batteries.

CR2050 batteries aren’t readily available hereabouts, and I wanted batteries with solder connections rather than rely on maintaining tension on the terminals detached from the original battery. I settled on PC mount CR2032 versions and fitted them using fly leads so that connectivity was by solder rather than simply contact. To further facilitate battery replacement in the future, I cut a piece of plastic from a yoghurt tub lid as a cover and hot-glued it in place. It only needs to be an environmental seal rather than hold the battery in place - the battery I chose fits snugly, and centrifugal force presses it against its mount, reinforcing its stability. Future battery changes when fitting new tyres will take only a few additional minutes, with no need to dig out glue or potting material, and soldering to fly leads is quick and easy.

Some tips:

There’s no need to take out all the old potting material (incidentally, a flexible material, so easy to cut). Run a sharp edge around the perimeter (I used the can opener blade on my old army knife), cut across the battery in two places with a craft knife to release a strip across the centre, then use a small, sharp chisel to remove the potting material at the same level as the top of the battery.

Lift the outer edge of the spot-welded upper (+ve) battery terminal and use needle-nose pliers to roll the terminal up to break the spot welds. Trim this terminal by about half.

Prise the battery up from the edge opposite the +ve terminal (the battery is glued in place) and detach the spot welded -ve terminal in the same manner (pretty tight getting pliers in there).

On the first sensor, I test fitted the new battery prior to folding back the -ve terminal, momentarily shorting the +ve and -ve terminals on the protruding +ve terminal of the sensor. This would have immediately drained some ergs from the battery, perhaps taking a couple years off its life. 🤦‍♂️ Fortunately it will now be an easy job to swap out the battery for a new one.

The old batteries were a tad under 3V, the new being 3.3V.

Removing the old rear tyre provided the opportunity to check out the Stop’n’Go tyre plug that’s been in place for quite a while now. Knowing the tyre was 90% worn at the time of the puncture and that I’d need to replace it before my next trip, I was happy to use it around town to get a bit more wear out of tyre. Looks pretty secure to me.

View attachment 110802

View attachment 110803

View attachment 110804

Hi Mark, how are the 2032's holding up? I ordered 2050HR's (Maxell, look identical to the BMW sensor batteries I took out, seem legit, ebay, from China and Japanese made (this alone forces me to question the whole thing))...The problem is it's riding season and I am down for two weeks by the time these arrive! 2050s are hard to find, anywhere!

My concern is Heat resistance (means I will have to order the batteries from Amazon or something if I want tabs vs a local drugstore which don't have tabs on them) and I don't want to solder straight to the battery. 2032's seem to have a much lower capacity than 2050s. In the last pic, is that hot glue you used or custard, lol? How about RTV sealant?

To confirm, you ran a black wire (soldered) to the negative terminal, sat the battery down and then soldered the factory positive tab to the positive tab of your new battery, covered it with a piece of plastic and poured hot glue on top to seal everything?

P.S. Sorry, to resurrect an old thread.

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Panzermann

· #40 · 17 d ago

Hi @home4sale2
The 2032s are holding up fine. I get an occasional error with the sensors reading outside the permitted range (over 5.1 Bar) or a signal interference error (maybe related) but that’s unrelated to the battery.
I used a short patch wire to connect each battery terminal to the remnants of the original battery terminals, as fine a gauge as I could find in my scrap box.
I cut a cover from a plastic container (happened to be ‘custard yellow’, as you so keenly observed - maybe a butter box) then hot-glued it in place. RTV would be fine but would take longer to set. I wouldn’t expect it to move, though, while and after refitting the sensor, tyre and wheel, so it could be refitted prior to the RTV having set.

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