Many consumers believe that such a device as a breathalyzer will not be useful in everyday life. However, this device will help control adolescents to protect them from early alcoholism. With your own device, it’s easy to determine if you can drive. How to choose a breathalyzer? What you need to know and remember when buying and using? This article will tell about this.
A bit of history
The first instruments for determining the presence of alcohol in a test person's blood appeared in the thirties of the twentieth century. However, these were still very primitive devices; they could not determine the degree of intoxication. Only in 1953 was the first breathalyzer capable of quantifying. Since then, devices of this type began to be used in those industries in which a sobriety test is required.
What it is?
Breathalyzer is a device that allows you to quickly determine the amount of alcohol in a person’s blood by analyzing air exhaled from the lungs. The result, as a rule, is displayed in ppm - a unit that means one thousandth.
How to choose a breathalyzer? There are professional devices that are commonly called breathalyzers. Their accuracy class is slightly higher than that of conventional "home" breathalyzers. Professional devices can take up to seventy thousand measurements a year, they are equipped with special drives and printers to store the results in memory and print them. It is the breathalyzers that are used during inspections by the traffic police. The testimonies of only these devices that have undergone special certification are accepted by the court - all drivers should remember and know this.
In ordinary life, such complex devices are not needed. Buy a regular breathalyzer, the price of which is acceptable. Fancy alcohol meters are very expensive and take up a lot of space. Probably, for this reason, most users opt for compact "home" units. Today, many drivers are trying to purchase such a device for themselves. Especially a lot of users among newcomers who have recently become motorists. They still do not have enough experience in controlling their car and in communicating with the traffic police. Of course, police inspectors have their own professional breathalyzers. However, the readings of individual devices should not differ significantly from those presented to you by the traffic police. The margin of error is up to twenty percent.
Are you interested in how to choose a breathalyzer yourself? First, let's try to figure out how it works.
Operating principle
How to use such a device? If you purchased a breathalyzer in the store, instructions for the device should be attached. Typically, use the device as follows: for five to six seconds, a person exhales air through a special tube. Having collected enough material for analysis, the device emits a click, indicating that it is time to stop inhaling. After that, the analysis of the collected air is carried out, and the measurement results are displayed on the screen.
Appearance
The model for individual use is usually very compact, it can be put in your pocket. Such a small breathalyzer, which customer reviews are mostly positive, looks a bit like a mobile phone, only the button on the device is only one. Depending on the brand chosen, the device may be red, gray, black, silver, etc. Such devices are manufactured at plants in Russia, Canada, Germany.
How to choose a breathalyzer? Customer reviews say that it is advisable to purchase products from official representatives. The fact is that today “gray” models have appeared on the market, which are almost indistinguishable from the originals produced under the brands of well-known and trusted companies. Typically, such "left" devices have a much lower price. An experienced buyer should consider why the cost of the device is so different from the price of a similar model offered by an official representative. Of course, no one will guarantee the normal operation and accuracy of the readings of such an instrument. In addition, breathalyzers purchased in dubious places are usually not repairable, i.e., they are disposable. It turns out that the acquisition of cheap devices in fact is not so profitable.
Types of breathalyzers
In the current market for personal breathalyzers, two types of models are presented: with electrochemical or semiconductor sensors. The latter are somewhat cheaper, but they must be changed periodically (on average once every three to four months). If you opt for an electrochemical sensor, you will initially pay a little more (up to 8.5 thousand rubles). However, subsequently you do not have to contact the service center to replace the part - it will be enough only to periodically adjust to reduce the measurement error. Breathalyzers can work on batteries. Depending on the model, you may need two or three pieces. It is advisable to purchase alkaline batteries - they last longer, and a device operating on this power supply will give more accurate readings. Professional breathalyzers are usually large, so they are powered by a mains or a special battery.
Budget models
How often can I use an individual breathalyzer? User reviews indicate that it is advisable to use cheap models (with a cost of up to 1000 rubles) once or twice a week for their intended purpose. What devices belong to this product line?
For example, this is the popular Dingo breathalyzer. It is capable of withstanding up to 400 tests. After the sensor fails (usually this happens every three to four months), you just need to purchase a new one and insert it into the device. For individual use, such a device is quite suitable, you should only remember that the permissible error of this model is up to twenty percent. Although for home use this is quite an acceptable result. Among budget models, the Alco Stop breathalyzer is also very popular.
Professional devices
If you need to carry out daily measurements, choose devices of higher value - up to ten thousand rubles. You have not yet decided which one to buy a breathalyzer? Customer reviews will give more information about a particular device, so do not neglect to read opinions and statements.
To test a large number of people, you should buy a high-quality professional device. For example, if you purchase a device from the German company Drager, the breathalyzer will serve much more. Such a device can check up to seventy thousand people a year. If necessary, you can equip this device with a printer on which the research results will be printed. Sometimes the company does not want to spend significant funds on checking the status of its employees, but the need remains. What to do in this case? It is advisable to pay attention to such models as "Dingo", Drivesafe. They can conduct fairly accurate research in a large number of people, and their cost is much lower than that of professional breathalyzers.
Now the industry produces breathalyzers not only for drivers, but also, for example, to check visitors to nightclubs. Often, such devices are purchased by the company for inspection before the flights of its employees. Therefore, choosing a device, you should take into account the specifics of use.
Mouthpieces
Many models of breathalyzers have a mouthpiece in the kit. In the kits of some devices there may be several such accessories at once. In addition to the hygiene component, the purpose of such a device is to take measurements with greater accuracy. When exhaling through the mouthpiece, the entire volume of air enters the device. Without this auxiliary device, part of the air will go “to the side”, which reduces the accuracy of the measurement.
Finally
Now, after reading this article, you know exactly how to choose a breathalyzer, you just have to make a purchase. Let the money not be wasted, and the new device will help prevent accidents on the road and save you money on traffic fines. It is possible that you are a strict parent who wants to control his teenage child, in which case you can choose any, even the simplest, model of a breathalyzer. Get, for example, a device that resembles a keychain in shape.