Electric roof control override and manual conversion

[Fuzzy748]

Hi, I’m new to this forum so a big hello to all you good people,
We’ve got a 2010 with electric roof and have had problems with the controls over the years (roof stuck in the open position and unable to continue our journey etc )
I thought some owners may be interested in fitting separate UP and DOWN non latching button switches as I have done,
I’ve simply taken a direct feed via the button switches to the back of both up and down relays in the overhead control unit, this allow normal use of the original vw control unit ( if it still work !! ) but piece of mind that if the control unit has a “moment” ( ours packed up long ago ) you can safely power the roof up and down,
Anyone interested I can send pic and details,
As were no going to hire out our van I’m thinking about converting to a totally manual roof,
Has anyone any experience of this mod or knows of any company’s that could help, I guess the first thing will be to change the hydraulics to gas rams etc
All info greatly appreciated

 

[jts46]

This has been done by someone on the forum, i think he was from Spain or Italy, he also listed all parts necessary and explanation.

 

[Hotel California]

There was been someone who changed a SE to a manual roof and posted some info on the forum .
If you read some older posts sure you will find some info.

 

[jts46]

Hi, I’m new to this forum so a big hello to all you good people,
We’ve got a 2010 with electric roof and have had problems with the controls over the years (roof stuck in the open position and unable to continue our journey etc )
I thought some owners may be interested in fitting separate UP and DOWN non latching button switches as I have done,
I’ve simply taken a direct feed via the button switches to the back of both up and down relays in the overhead control unit, this allow normal use of the original vw control unit ( if it still work !! ) but piece of mind that if the control unit has a “moment” ( ours packed up long ago ) you can safely power the roof up and down,
Anyone interested I can send pic and details,
As were no going to hire out our van I’m thinking about converting to a totally manual roof,
Has anyone any experience of this mod or knows of any company’s that could help, I guess the first thing will be to change the hydraulics to gas rams etc
All info greatly appreciated

I would be interested in your mod, can you supply deatails and pictures?

 

[westfalia]

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/roof-conversion-hydraulic-manual.21626/

Here it is.

 

[Fuzzy748]

Thanks for the response, I must have been searching in the wrong place I’ll have another search and find the info you suggest,
Ref my override switch mod, you’ll need to unplug/ remove the control box in the roof consol, drop/remove the headlining panel to gain access to the wiring and Printed Circuit Board, on the PCB you’ll see two conventional contact relays ( approx.25x25x25mm ) one for motor up and the other for motor down,
Quite simply I tapped in to the 12v pos and neg supply up there, ran separate supplies to my new non latching switches and soldered the output onto the respective relay thus bypassing the tiresome control unit,
I can’t remember offhand the relay pin numbers I connected to but it’s a straightforward test with a multimeter to determine this,
Next time I’m in the van I’ll try to get some pics,

 

[amico dei cani]

Hi, I’m new to this forum so a big hello to all you good people,
We’ve got a 2010 with electric roof and have had problems with the controls over the years (roof stuck in the open position and unable to continue our journey etc )
I thought some owners may be interested in fitting separate UP and DOWN non latching button switches as I have done,
I’ve simply taken a direct feed via the button switches to the back of both up and down relays in the overhead control unit, this allow normal use of the original vw control unit ( if it still work !! ) but piece of mind that if the control unit has a “moment” ( ours packed up long ago ) you can safely power the roof up and down,
Anyone interested I can send pic and details,
As were no going to hire out our van I’m thinking about converting to a totally manual roof,
Has anyone any experience of this mod or knows of any company’s that could help, I guess the first thing will be to change the hydraulics to gas rams etc
All info greatly appreciatedh

Thanks for the response, I must have been searching in the wrong place I’ll have another search and find the info you suggest,
Ref my override switch mod, you’ll need to unplug/ remove the control box in the roof consol, drop/remove the headlining panel to gain access to the wiring and Printed Circuit Board, on the PCB you’ll see two conventional contact relays ( approx.25x25x25mm ) one for motor up and the other for motor down,
Quite simply I tapped in to the 12v pos and neg supply up there, ran separate supplies to my new non latching switches and soldered the output onto the respective relay thus bypassing the tiresome control unit,
I can’t remember offhand the relay pin numbers I connected to but it’s a straightforward test with a multimeter to determine this,
Next time I’m in the van I’ll try to get some pics,

could you send us the pics? I have some problems with the display and I would like to have a "plan b" in case the display dies. do you know by chance which pins of the camper unit correspond to the roof up and down outputs?