I am replacing the radio in my L bug and wondering the best way to wire the memory wire and battery power wire? old radio justy had one power wire, don't really want an extra switch, the on/off on the radio is fine, is it OK to join the yellow and red wires together for power? any help appreciated
Neil

Perfectly fine to join both cables together, I do recommend however putting a switch ( i know you dont want to) on the red/ignition wire to prevent possible current draw. Seen it only a few times, my car was one of them!
Just make sure it's fused which ever way you wire it.

Good luck anyway.

It depends on the headunit but very few modern ones can be wired up like that cos the face stays lit up all the time even when the unit is turned off which will flatten battery quick if the car isn't used much

All of mine, the JVC in the bug, Pioneer in the mainstreamer, even the Sony X-plode in the tractor have faces that stay lit up when turned off.

Unless you listen to the music without the engine running just hook the Red ACC wire up to one of the ignition fuses so it only works when the ignitions on and the yellow memory wire to a constant live fuse.

You;ll fry the points/coil though if you leave the ignition on listening to music without the engine running wired up like this though.

If you wanna get tricky 71 and later VWs have a terminal on the ignition switch for a warning buzzer that goes off if you leave the keys in (not wired up in aus), you can use this as an accesories position like I did, the radio only works as long as the key is in the ignition.
turns off when you pull it out.

Thank you Mikew and Joel, my L is a '73 so I will check the ignition switch, which is a new-replacement, if it has that extra terminal that seems to be the best way to go and I can put the memory to a live fuse, as you said. Great help, thank you!
Neil

There will be 2 small 2.8mm unused terminals on the back if it has them one marked P the other SU.

The SU is live only when a key is in the ignition so you can use that to power the ACC wire if it works ok.
Alot of times they dont work at all or work all the time if the barrel is getting abit worn.

thanks Joel, the barrel is in pretty good nick so hopefully should be good, if not I will set up a switch as mikew suggested, is it possible to get a probe on the SU with key to check for power?
will be on to it tonight so haven't had a good look as yet

You gotta stand on you're head to see what your doing but yes it's possible to stick a test light in there.

Joel,

would my pov pack 1300 have this terminal?

wonder if my 89 T3 would be similar?

I'll have to check this out.

Cheers
Brendan