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Does your Zulu 2 turn itself on?

flightlogic

Well Known Member
Patron
I know the manual clearly says the Zulu 2 will turn off about five minutes after taking off the headset. Mine actually turns back on when I next use them. Is this an undocumented feature, or am I just lucky?
The batteries don't seem to suffer at all with this"feature".
 
Turn on automatically when? As you pick them up and before placed on head? I never experienced this with my Zulu2 and Zulu3. They shut off, which is a nice feature, but never saw them turning themselves back on.
 
Turn On

Mine turn on as soon as my intercom is turned on. Headsets plugged in of course.
 
Could be the LEMO. My zulu 2 turns on, but it is a Lemo. I figured it turns itself on when it see's ship power, which is logical. I would not expect the unit to be smart enough to turn itself on if working on batteries. The unit would have to be consuming battery power constantly in order to be able to sense something on the headset jacks.
 
FWIW my ZULU's are regular GA plugs not a LEMO plug version and, without Bluetooth on, I easily get 20+ hours on a set of batteries.
 
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Mine turns on when I turn on the avionics master. My batteries don't seem to last as long as I would expect, but they last a while.
 
guessing

So, others have seen this. I kind of like it. But, as mentioned, it is not a feature they claim. Mine seem to come on when ship power comes on (intercom).
They are battery powered as I said. BTW a bit of a drift here...
I have not flown as much during Covid, as I would like... so the batteries sit.
I have used ENELOOP from Sanyo for a few years. Little self discharge, unlike other brands.
About two bucks a cell. Still have some in flashlights that are 8 years old. Since they get less charge and discharge cycles, I suppose that extends their longevity.
Anyway, back to Zulu. They have always been known for outstanding customer support. This "auto turn on" is just a bonus I figure. Thanks for the replies forum readers!
 
Power Up...

Sam,

My Zulu 2s (now 3) have always turned themselves on when power is applied or when they are plugged in when the jacks are hot. Great customer service. I sent them in for service and upgrade to Zulu 3 after 3,500+ hours. I’m pretty hard on them. Now have 5,000+ hours on them.
 
I have seen this too. My guess: I think they ‘steal’ a tiny amount of power from the mic bias, and use this to turn on the batteries. Easy experiment: Do they turn on by themselves if the mic plug is disconnected? I haven’t tried it yet.
 
I have seen this too. My guess: I think they ‘steal’ a tiny amount of power from the mic bias, and use this to turn on the batteries. Easy experiment: Do they turn on by themselves if the mic plug is disconnected? I haven’t tried it yet.
^^^^^DING, DING, DING we have a winner!!!^^^^^

I pulled the microphone plug out, turned the audio panel on and the headset did not turn on. After waiting for one minute I pushed the microphone plug in, 2 seconds later the headset turned on by themselves

My batteries don't seem to last as long as I would expect, but they last a while.
If you have the Bluetooth ON all the time the batteries don't last as long.
 
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Mine don't turn on automatically, but I turn mine off manually after shut down and then unplug and place them into their case. Perhaps if I didn't force them off manually, they might turn themselves back on???
 
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