Many consumers believe that such a device as a breathalyzer is not useful in everyday life. However, this device will help control adolescents in order to protect them from early alcoholism. Having your own device, it is easy to determine whether you can drive. How to choose a breathalyzer? What you need to know and remember when buying and using? This article will tell about it.
A bit of history
The first devices for determining the presence of alcohol in the test subject appeared in the thirties of the twentieth century. However, these were still quite primitive devices; they could not determine the degree of intoxication. It wasn't until 1953 that the first breathalyzer capable of giving a quantitative estimate was produced. Since then, devices of this type have been used in those industries that require a sobriety test.
What is this?
Breathalyzer - a device that allows you to quickly determine the amount of alcohol in a person's blood by analyzing the air exhaled from the lungs. Result likeusually 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 per year, they are equipped with special drives and printers for storing results in memory and printing them out. It is the breathalyzers that are used during checks by the traffic police. The readings of only these devices, which have passed special certification, are accepted by the court - all drivers should remember and know this.
In ordinary life, such complex devices are not needed. Get a regular breathalyzer, the price of which is acceptable. Heaped breathalyzers 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. There are especially many users among newcomers who have recently become motorists. They still do not have enough experience in driving their car and in communicating with traffic police officers. 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 permissible 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.
Operation principle
How to use such a device? If you purchased a breathalyzer in a store, the instructions for the device should be attached. Usually, the device should be used like this: for five to six seconds, a person exhales air through a special tube. Having collected a sufficient amount of material for analysis, the device emits a click, indicating that it is time to stop breathing. After that, the collected air is analyzed, and the measurement results are displayed on the screen.
Appearance
Model for personal use is usually very compact, it can be put in your pocket. Such a small breathalyzer, the customer reviews of which are mostly positive, looks a bit like a mobile phone, only the device has only one button. Depending on the chosen brand, the device can be red, gray, black, silver, etc. Similar devices are produced at factories in Russia, Canada, Germany.
Which breathalyzer to choose? 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, outwardly practically indistinguishable from the originals produced under the brands of well-known and trusted companies. Usually such "left" devices have a much lower price. An experienced buyer should think about why the cost of the device is so different from the price of a similar model offered by the official representative? Of course, no one will guarantee the normal operation and accuracy of the readings of such a device. Besidesbreathalyzers purchased in dubious places are usually not repairable, that is, they are disposable. It turns out that the purchase of cheap devices in fact is not so profitable.
Types of breathalyzers
On today's market of personal breathalyzers there are two types of models: with electrochemical or semiconductor sensors. The latter are somewhat cheaper, but they need to 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 will not have to contact the service center to replace the part - it will only be enough to periodically adjust to reduce the measurement error. Breathalyzers can run 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 powered by such a power supply will give more accurate readings. Professional breathalyzers are usually large, so they are powered by the mains or a special battery.
Budget models
How often can a personal breathalyzer be used? User reviews indicate that it is advisable to operate cheap models (with a cost of up to 1000 rubles) for their intended purpose once or twice a week. Which devices belong to this product line?
For example, this is a popular breathalyzer "Dingo". He is able to withstandup to 400 tests. After the sensor fails (usually this happens once 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, it should only be remembered that the permissible error of this model is up to twenty percent. Although for home use this is quite an acceptable result. Among the budget models, the Alco Stop breathalyzer is also very popular.
Professional devices
If you need to take daily measurements, choose devices of higher cost - up to ten thousand rubles. Haven't decided which breathalyzer to buy yet? Customer reviews will give more information about a particular device, so do not neglect to read the opinions and statements.
To check 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 last much longer. Such a device can check up to seventy thousand people a year. If necessary, you can equip this device with a printer that will print the results of the research. Sometimes an enterprise does not want to spend significant funds on checking the condition of its employees, but the need for this remains. How to proceed in this case? You can advise to pay attention to such models as "Dingo", Drivesafe. They can conduct fairly accurate studies on a large number of people, and their costsignificantly lower than 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 enterprise for inspection before flights of their employees. Therefore, when choosing a device, you should take into account the specifics of use.
Mouthpieces
Many models of breathalyzers come with a mouthpiece. In the kits of some devices, there may be several such accessories at once. In addition to the hygienic component, the purpose of such a device is to measure with greater accuracy. When exhaling, the entire volume of air enters the device through the mouthpiece. Without this accessory, part of the air will go "to the side", which reduces the accuracy of the measurement.
In conclusion
Now, after reading this article, you know exactly how to choose a breathalyzer, all that remains is to make a purchase. Let the money not be spent in vain, and the new device will help prevent accidents on the road and save you money on traffic police fines. It is possible that you are a strict parent who wants to control your teenage child, in which case you can choose any, even the simplest breathalyzer model. Get, for example, a device shaped like a keychain.
