TheSamba.com :: View topic

Tue Jul 12, 2005 3:06 pm

greetings all,

my 70 still has the original radio intact but disconnected. the previous owner placed another one under the dash-a good choice. i plan to reconnect the orginal and get it going once again, if it works.

i looked into it and i found 3 wires coming from it-2 brown wires that go to the speaker, a small black wire that looks like a ground, and a blue one that was spliced and then cut. could this blue wire be the power? i traced another blue wire to a "power" switch under the dash and is connected to the fuse harness on the bottom row, 2nd to the left.

let me know what you guys think.

x1970vw

Tue Jul 12, 2005 3:10 pm

The blue wire is the 12 volt power.

Just connect it to any fuse... just as long as it's not a headlight circut.

Tue Jul 12, 2005 6:33 pm

on my 68 beetle on the wiring diagram it's the last fuse on your fuse box in the trunk view...

check out the wiring diagrams in the technical part of the website or do go to vintagebus.com ...i found some diagrams on that site

keep away from the headlight fuses for the radio like x1970vw said

good luck

Tue Jul 12, 2005 6:56 pm

Hi x1970vw,
The small black wire should be for the internal dash light.
Eric&Barb

Wed Jul 13, 2005 8:15 am

greetings all,

once again, thanks for your advice. i am a novice in electronics and your info provides makes me an understanding.

so i will connect the radio to the fuse box so this should give me power. if i am wrong, let me know.

the black wire should be the light. cool, it is connected just next to a patch just left of the wiper motor. it kinda looked like a ground.

they might have used a switch to power the new radio that was put in order to cut the power since it would drain the battery. i found that out.

the speaker is still intact and does not look damaged.

again, thanks.
x1970vw

Wed Jul 13, 2005 10:11 am

Hiya 1970,

I handled quite a few Sapphire XIs out of 1970 Bugs and busses a few years back. I believe (IIRC, and I could be wrong) that the black wire from your unit is actually is actually the main power lead. The blue lead is for the internal light. But, really, it makes little difference insofar as both of them need to be hooked up to a power source. And this is a self grounding unit so there is no ground lead wire.

Were it me, I'd hook up the blue lead to a power source and check for the light. If, instead you get audio, then the egg is on my face. In any event, it would be advisable to place an in-line fuse between your power source and your radio if you do not draw from the fuse box. And on your 70 one of the fuses should be open for just this application.

Mike

1970 AS Bug

Wed Jul 13, 2005 4:55 pm

when i put the radio i hooked it up to the headlights before and the radio would only work when i turned on the lights so i had to change it