Given the 1V line drop, most likely the IQ4 was functioning at the time of the test.
Your analogy of hare and tortoise is a stretch. Yea, the tortoise will win if you cut off the front legs of the hare.
You don't really need the IQ4 to get higher voltages than 13.4V. One can purchase a plug-in that sets the voltage higher than base line. You would need to manually un-plug it to drop voltage.
Sal
KendallP wrote:
Isn't it also the IQ4 that pushes the unit to 14.6V? Without it, even using the manual switch, would it not be limited to 14.2?