Off grid RVing and the Z1 voltage dilemma

[stevenal]

I’ve been using my Z1 in my truck camper successfully for some time now. A few weeks ago, however, I woke to find the Z1 had turned off. I turned it on and went back to sleep…until it switched off again. Fully awake now, I timed it. After one minute it would turn off consistently. I checked the camper battery, and the indication showed “good.” The night was warm, and I had kept the vent fan on high; possibly the first time doing so. After driving the next day all worked fine again.

The dilemma is this: The Z1 AC adapter puts out 15VDC. The HDM battery is rated 14.4VDC, and HDM cautions not to use any battery but theirs. But then HDM sold me a “car cord”, allowing me to power the unit from any vehicle’s 12V battery of any brand. I decided that I really need 14.4 to 15 Volts on this thing if I wish to sleep through the night. Searching these pages, I found Trailbear’s post suggesting a USB-C power delivery solution. Thanks Trailbear. I was able to find what I needed at Amazon with no splicing needed. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08NS ... UTF8&psc=1 and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0793 ... UTF8&psc=1. The second item was a bit of a concern, since they all have specs stating 12V input without any mention of what the minimum might be. Luckily, one of the reviewers did some pretty thorough testing of this particular device. Once received, I ran my own tests. With as low as a 9.3 V input, it continued to put out 15V and would run the Z1 continuously. Problem solved.

[trailbear]

stevenal, great to hear that you found a solution for your z1 using a 12V to 15V car adapter and usb-c power delivery 15v cable.

trailbear