Car Breathalyzer Problems
Having a car breathalyzer comes with a lot of questions. Some of the following may never come up, but when they do it's good to know why and how to possibly resolve them. There are many things you should know about a car breathalyzer such as:
€ Blow/Hum Bad Readings
€ Long Warm Up Periods
€ Too Many Lock Outs
€ Tampering
€ Food And Drink Affecting Your Car Breathalyzer
€ Missed Calibration Appointments
Car Breathalyzer Problems - Blow/Hum Bad Readings
You have probably heard of a breathalyzer unit that requires you to blow into it in order to get your BAC pass or fail test, some may actually require you to blow as well as hum, making it that much more complicated to get accurate testing.
Many new car breathalyzer clients have a difficult time with this at first and some have problems throughout the duration of their term. This is probably due to the fact that the breathalyzer measures many different elements than just a blow, it measures humming: loudness, pitch, length, and strength. It sounds like a lot of different variables but it's not as bad as it sounds, with a little practice you'll be a professional.
The secret to passing the blow/hum test on your first attempt is to act like you're yelling into the breathalyzer. Just before you take your blow test, take a deep breath, and with your mouth on the plastic mouth piece, blow and yell into the device and it should pass with no problems. You may even want to vary the pitch, starting off high and then going low, and then back to high. If that doesn't work maybe see if your service provider carries low/no hum units.
Car Breathalyzer Problems - Long Warm Up Periods
Normally when you first turn your car to the ON position, turning your breathalyzer on, you may notice it taking longer than expected to ask for a blow test. During the time between turning your car to the ON position to the breathalyzer asking for a test, there is a warm up period. Sometimes the wait is long and sometimes the waits are short. It is however just that, a warm up period. The breathalyzer has to warm up to a certain temperature to receive an accurate reading, and if the temperature outside reduces the internal temperature of your device it may not accept a reading right away, it will probably just flash or beep at you until it the breathalyzer is ready.
Some of the ways to prevent a lengthy warm up period are to park your car in a garage, or wrap a towel around the breathalyzer, maybe even wrap it in aluminum and a towel.
Some units can be programmed by your service provider to warm up time at a specific time in the day to automatically have the unit ready for a blow test when you get into the car. Potential problem with this method: It will warm up every day at that time, so if you work at 5 in the morning Monday - Friday, Saturday and Sunday your breathalyzer will still warm up for a blow test at 5 a.m. and you will be required to give it one, and if a test is not given it may lock the breathalyzer out temporarily and show up as a "Warning, Failure to Test," at your next calibration appointment. So choose this decision carefully.
Car Breathalyzer Problems - To Many Lockouts
A lockout of your car breathalyzer could occur for the following reasons:
Car Breathalyzer Problems - Tampering
AT NO POINT IN TIME SHOULD YOU EVER TAMPER WITH A BREATHALYZER INSTALLED INTO YOUR VEHICLE.
In some states this is considered a criminal offense. Most car breathalyzers record everything that happens between calibration appointments so adjusting, moving, cutting, tearing, bypassing, or anything else that might be considered tampering should be avoided. There really are no ways to bypass the unit without it being reported so it is best to just refrain from trying. If there is an issue where you feel the unit needs to be moved, changed, or rewired just contact your service provider and they should help you with your problem.
Car Breathalyzer Problems - Foods and Drinks Affecting Your Car Breathalyzer
There are instances when you will have a €Warning€ or €Fail€ test when you may have had no alcohol in your system, this may be due to possible food or drink that you may have consumed prior to testing.
Some foods such as pizza, doughnuts, and certain types of breads have been known to give faulty test. If this occurs you just need to rinse your mouth out and attempt a retest in a few minutes.
Some drinks that contain fermented fruit such as Kombucha, may contain traces of alcohol, be careful when drinking these types of drinks before testing because they could cause a failed test. If this occurs, drink a non alcohol containing liquid (i.e. water) and wait a few minutes and everything should check out fine.
Cough syrups and lozenges containing alcohol (i.e. NyQuil) will more than likely cause a failed test due to the high content of alcohol. If you are sick and must take syrups or lozenges and will be driving somewhere, just make sure alcohol is not one of the ingredients. Most breathalyzer units are very sensitive to alcohol so any traces, even if just in the mouth, regardless of what the source is could trigger a faulty test reading.
Car Breathalyzer Problems - Missed Calibration Appointments
Car Breathalyzers must be calibrated to ensure that the test you are giving are as accurate as possible. If you miss your calibration appointment you typically have a short grace period, but after a certain point your reading may start to vary in accuracy.
If you know you will be missing a calibration it appointment is best to contact your service provider and see if you can schedule an earlier appointment. Missing a calibration does not usually cause any issues for the operator, but if you happen to miss a calibration and your breathalyzer starts to give a lot of "Warnings" or "Fails" it's far passed its calibration expiration date and needs to be serviced
Having a car breathalyzer comes with a lot of questions. Some of the following may never come up, but when they do it's good to know why and how to possibly resolve them. There are many things you should know about a car breathalyzer such as:
€ Blow/Hum Bad Readings
€ Long Warm Up Periods
€ Too Many Lock Outs
€ Tampering
€ Food And Drink Affecting Your Car Breathalyzer
€ Missed Calibration Appointments
Car Breathalyzer Problems - Blow/Hum Bad Readings
You have probably heard of a breathalyzer unit that requires you to blow into it in order to get your BAC pass or fail test, some may actually require you to blow as well as hum, making it that much more complicated to get accurate testing.
Many new car breathalyzer clients have a difficult time with this at first and some have problems throughout the duration of their term. This is probably due to the fact that the breathalyzer measures many different elements than just a blow, it measures humming: loudness, pitch, length, and strength. It sounds like a lot of different variables but it's not as bad as it sounds, with a little practice you'll be a professional.
The secret to passing the blow/hum test on your first attempt is to act like you're yelling into the breathalyzer. Just before you take your blow test, take a deep breath, and with your mouth on the plastic mouth piece, blow and yell into the device and it should pass with no problems. You may even want to vary the pitch, starting off high and then going low, and then back to high. If that doesn't work maybe see if your service provider carries low/no hum units.
Car Breathalyzer Problems - Long Warm Up Periods
Normally when you first turn your car to the ON position, turning your breathalyzer on, you may notice it taking longer than expected to ask for a blow test. During the time between turning your car to the ON position to the breathalyzer asking for a test, there is a warm up period. Sometimes the wait is long and sometimes the waits are short. It is however just that, a warm up period. The breathalyzer has to warm up to a certain temperature to receive an accurate reading, and if the temperature outside reduces the internal temperature of your device it may not accept a reading right away, it will probably just flash or beep at you until it the breathalyzer is ready.
Some of the ways to prevent a lengthy warm up period are to park your car in a garage, or wrap a towel around the breathalyzer, maybe even wrap it in aluminum and a towel.
Some units can be programmed by your service provider to warm up time at a specific time in the day to automatically have the unit ready for a blow test when you get into the car. Potential problem with this method: It will warm up every day at that time, so if you work at 5 in the morning Monday - Friday, Saturday and Sunday your breathalyzer will still warm up for a blow test at 5 a.m. and you will be required to give it one, and if a test is not given it may lock the breathalyzer out temporarily and show up as a "Warning, Failure to Test," at your next calibration appointment. So choose this decision carefully.
Car Breathalyzer Problems - To Many Lockouts
A lockout of your car breathalyzer could occur for the following reasons:
- Too many Failed Test
- A Failed Test is when the breathalyzer detects a BAC over the limit set for the device and will not allow you to start the car. Too many consecutive failed test, or set number of failed test within a calibration period, may lock out your breathalyzer out. At this point you will have to have a service call by your service provider or tow your vehicle to have your vehicles breathalyzer reset. To prevent this from happening make every effort to ensure that before you test you have no alcohol in your system, and if you do blow a fail test give yourself adequate time before retesting, maybe eating solid food and drinking water may help expedite this process.
- Breathalyzer Malfunction
- Sometimes the car breathalyzer may run into a few problems that cause the units to lockout. If you have not had any warnings or failures and feel it is not anything you have done it may is be likely the breathalyzer has malfunctioned and out of the operator's control. A breathalyzer can malfunction due to faulty wiring, bad calibrations, faulty fuel cell, or bad internal heater. If there are no bypass options you may have to ask your service provider for a service call.
- Passed Calibration Period
- Getting your unit calibrated every month or two is a vital part to the functionality of your breathalyzer. To maintain correct readings every blow test a calibration makes sure that the readings you are giving the breathalyzer are correct. Some units with start to have false readings if the breathalyzer is not calibrated accordingly. For more information on what a calibration is click here.
Car Breathalyzer Problems - Tampering
AT NO POINT IN TIME SHOULD YOU EVER TAMPER WITH A BREATHALYZER INSTALLED INTO YOUR VEHICLE.
In some states this is considered a criminal offense. Most car breathalyzers record everything that happens between calibration appointments so adjusting, moving, cutting, tearing, bypassing, or anything else that might be considered tampering should be avoided. There really are no ways to bypass the unit without it being reported so it is best to just refrain from trying. If there is an issue where you feel the unit needs to be moved, changed, or rewired just contact your service provider and they should help you with your problem.
Car Breathalyzer Problems - Foods and Drinks Affecting Your Car Breathalyzer
There are instances when you will have a €Warning€ or €Fail€ test when you may have had no alcohol in your system, this may be due to possible food or drink that you may have consumed prior to testing.
Some foods such as pizza, doughnuts, and certain types of breads have been known to give faulty test. If this occurs you just need to rinse your mouth out and attempt a retest in a few minutes.
Some drinks that contain fermented fruit such as Kombucha, may contain traces of alcohol, be careful when drinking these types of drinks before testing because they could cause a failed test. If this occurs, drink a non alcohol containing liquid (i.e. water) and wait a few minutes and everything should check out fine.
Cough syrups and lozenges containing alcohol (i.e. NyQuil) will more than likely cause a failed test due to the high content of alcohol. If you are sick and must take syrups or lozenges and will be driving somewhere, just make sure alcohol is not one of the ingredients. Most breathalyzer units are very sensitive to alcohol so any traces, even if just in the mouth, regardless of what the source is could trigger a faulty test reading.
Car Breathalyzer Problems - Missed Calibration Appointments
Car Breathalyzers must be calibrated to ensure that the test you are giving are as accurate as possible. If you miss your calibration appointment you typically have a short grace period, but after a certain point your reading may start to vary in accuracy.
If you know you will be missing a calibration it appointment is best to contact your service provider and see if you can schedule an earlier appointment. Missing a calibration does not usually cause any issues for the operator, but if you happen to miss a calibration and your breathalyzer starts to give a lot of "Warnings" or "Fails" it's far passed its calibration expiration date and needs to be serviced
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