At 07:57 PM 2/23/2009, Loren Busch wrote...

>Second, if the radio/head unit is properly wired there should be
>virtually
>no drain, 10-20 mills at the most.  I know my Pioneer called for two
>power
>leads, one hot all the time, one switched with the ignition.  So
>that's what
>I did.  I repeat, no problems.

Ay, there's the rub.

There is no accessory position on a Vanagon, so it's either wired so
you have to have the ignition on to play the radio (which is bad for
the ignition, in addition to drawing more power), or it's on all the
time. Which is "proper?"

I wired an "accessory" switch so I could play it when the ignition is
off. Another suggestion which has been made is to wire the radio's
switched lead to the switch in the ignition which controls the door
buzzer, then you can use the radio as long as the key is in, but don't
have to turn the key on.