Westy control panel removal

SebRogers · Sep 4, 2015

Quick question: has anyone successfully removed the Westy central control panel (in the cab headlining, above the dash)? I know there are two holes and you're supposed to push two roughly 2.5mm dia _things_ in there, but after pushing and twisting and tugging every which way it still doesn't want to come out.

What am I doing wrong?

welshwestie · Sep 6, 2015

They are a nightmare to remove. My cousin damaged his when the screwdrivers scratched the pcb and he then spent £200 getting it repaired. I tried to remove mine, removed the cab light thinking this would make it easier but it didn't. I wanted to change the dip switches to `two batteries' after putting a larger gel battery in. I just live with the fact that my battery level is being incorrectly reported, and just use the voltage as an indication of charge.

mrcheesbrough · Sep 7, 2015

Interested to know why you might want to remove it? I did remove mine once. It's a bit of a hazy memory now, but it was a fight and not something I want to repeat in a hurry.

pabloalfa76 · Sep 7, 2015

Hi Seb,
When you've finished messing about with your van, your avatar has disappeared! ( just another job ).

sidepod · Sep 14, 2015

Left hand bend with medium bump just after apex usualy works on mine......about 42 mph.

sidepod · Sep 14, 2015

mrcheesbrough said:
Interested to know why you might want to remove it?.

Alter the DIP switches on the rear that adjust the battery type/quantity settings.

SebRogers · Sep 30, 2015

mrcheesbrough said:
Interested to know why you might want to remove it? I did remove mine once. It's a bit of a hazy memory now, but it was a fight and not something I want to repeat in a hurry.

Dip switches. Mine's set for a gel battery; I'd prefer to change it to the other setting (which I believe is lead acid...)

SebRogers · Sep 30, 2015

pabloalfa76 said:
Hi Seb,
When you've finished messing about with your van, your avatar has disappeared! ( just another job ).

Ha! Erm, well, I'll add it to the list

SebRogers · Sep 30, 2015

Thanks for the replies, btw. I've given up for now and think I'll just live with it, because no matter how much I push and prod it doesn't want to come out (I got one side to unclip, but the other side remained stubbornly in place). 20 year old plastics aren't something I want to get too brutal on!

TwentyOneThirtyFive · Oct 1, 2015

Do we know if these dip switches alter the behaviour of the charger, or just the display?

SebRogers · Oct 1, 2015

TwentyOneThirtyFive said:
Do we know if these dip switches alter the behaviour of the charger, or just the display?

That's a good question, and one that I was wondering too.

I understand it's easy to damage a gel battery by using the wrong charging cycle (though using a gel cycle for a wet battery is OK, apparently). So either the dip switches change what the charger does, or the Westy charger defaults to a gel cycle and the dip switches just change the display (perhaps charge remaining?)

sidepod · Oct 2, 2015

My gut feeling is the the later as Seb says.
The charger unit is not dedicated to the Westy so if it was equiped with alternate outputs I think it would have the switch integrel. Only a thought.

Pod.