Interest in One-Touch Convertible button?

[Jaxonalden]

I have the SmartTop and the one touch function is the ****************. The cool factor is the ability to drop or raise on the fly...up to 25 mph. Perfect for leaving a parking lot or pulling into parking and not having to sit there waiting for the top to finish doing it "thing".

[ekam]

I have the smarttop as well and don't know why that wasn't standard, although it's only half the convenience for people who need to do the chop thing.

The only caution to it is you don't want to have the top move up/down while you're driving over uneven surface (ie. bumps)... apparently it could break or damage the top mechanism.

[blue2000s]

It takes 12 seconds for the top to go up or down, I don't see the point. Convince me.

[Highlow]

Thanks for the replies guys!! It's really helping the start up!

Originally Posted by blue2000s

It takes 12 seconds for the top to go up or down, I don't see the point. Convince me.

It's more of a personal thing. Some people are annoyed with having to sit there and wait the 12-16 seconds and not be able to do other set up procedures (iPod setup, A/C, seat-belt, etc.).

If it doesn't bother you to sit there and wait the 15 seconds with your arm stretched out and not being able to get the other pre-take off stuff done, then this product might not be of your interest.

[Lil bastard]

Originally Posted by blue2000s

It takes 12 seconds for the top to go up or down, I don't see the point. Convince me.

Ditto!

Also a caveat. With the one-touch relays, if there is a problem with the top frame or such, you can easily bend frame members or the clamshell and do $eriou$ damage before you can stop the motor from running. This is one of the major reasons I have never been a fan of these.

Cheers!

[ekam]

Originally Posted by Lil bastard

Ditto!

Also a caveat. With the one-touch relays, if there is a problem with the top frame or such, you can easily bend frame members or the clamshell and do $eriou$ damage before you can stop the motor from running. This is one of the major reasons I have never been a fan of these.

Cheers!

With the smarttop if you press the button again it will stop it.

[jwade]

I've had the Smarttop for over a year now and love it. Bought mine used off eBay for less than 150. If you hunt online, you can get a good deal on one.

Just remember that when the window is cold, you have to chop it...I use a towel given to me by the original owner...But on a hot sunny day, once the window warms up, I do not hesitate to drop it without stopping to do the infamous "chop"...

[mikefocke]

and use the "while moving slowly" feature all the time. Almost never use the one-touch as I need to do the chop due to the fitting of my top. I guess I use it when putting the top up on a hot day when it starts raining or just gets too hot and I pull up to a stop light and don't know how long the light is. Nice to be able to pull out and not hear the honking horns behind as the top closes the last 6 inches.

[CenterIsl]

Originally Posted by Lil bastard

With the one-touch relays, if there is a problem with the top frame or such, you can easily bend frame members or the clamshell and do $eriou$ damage before you can stop the motor from running.

Clearly damage ($1200 in the Pelican Parts article) can be extensive, but I'm not clear on the difference between the manual and relay modes contributing to this.

I rarely operate my top - it's down for months at a time since I park in my garage at night and only use it during fair weather. So, when I do operate it I find that I forget to...remove the red clip (when putting it up)...(usually) engage the E-brake...(possibly) unlatch the top...and I'm sure there a few others. I forget all of the permutations, but usually nothing happens when I push the button and then I figure it out.

So...I'm guessing that I have NOT had a "problem with the top frame", but if I did...I'd hear the motors start to bog, progress would stop, and I would...release the button? And that would occur much sooner than if I were using a relay and, say, putting on my seatbelt where I'd have to reach back to the switch and press it again to stop the motors? I dunno, but I haven't heard about this catastrophic failure ever happening with the stock manual mode...I'm wondering how real an issue it is for the relay mode. I can see this possibly being an issue if you initiated the relay and walked away from the car, but that doesn't seem to be a common scenario.

[Jaxonalden]

Originally Posted by blue2000s

It takes 12 seconds for the top to go up or down, I don't see the point. Convince me.

Okay,

The idea behind this is to do it on the run, that by the way is the only time you can use the one touch feature is to be moving at the time to active it-fwd or rev. If you’re stopped you have to hold the activation switch down (safety I guess). You also don't have to have the emergency brake engaged because it overrides this safety feature.

So let’s recap; No more E-brake, no more being stopped, no more holding down the button.

BTW, if you do have a bind in your top and you continue to activate the switch the first thing that will brake is the plastic socket of the ball & socket of the drive motor arm. It's made that way too protect the rest of the mechanism and they cost about a $50 for one arm...less at a salvage yard and easy to replace. I know because I’ve done it twice. Once because my wife didn’t unlock the top all the way and the second because neither did I.