Calibration frequency

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How often do you need to calibrate your breathalyzer?

Breathalyzers are used not only by law representatives but also by individuals. This device allows us to determinate quickly if we should drive after consuming alcohol. If you have already decided to purchase breathalyzer or you have one in possession, there are some things you should know about to make sure your breathalyzer is working properly.

To ensure that the results which show up on the display were as accurate as possible, your breathalyzer must be calibrated regularly.

What is breathalyzer calibration?

The value that appears on the breathalyzer's display should be as close as possible to the fumes of alcohol contained in the breath. However, each breathalyzer after a certain time gets decalibrated, what leads to unreliable results – it may overstate or understate the amount of alcohol. Therefore, it is important to submit your breathalyzer for periodic calibration. It will allow precise determination of alcohol content in the air passing into the device.

When and how often breathalyzer calibration is needed?

Sooner or later every breathalyzer needs to be calibrated. How often it should be done depends on a model but also on the usage frequency. It is commonly said that breatthalyzers should be calibrated once every 6-12 months or after 200-15000 measurements.

When a breathalizer needs to be calibrated?

Neglecting regular breathalyzer calibration can cause e.g. sensor breaking. Because the blame for the failure of this type is on our side, breathalyzers don't have guarantee. In that case we would be saddled with the cost of purchasing a new sensor. Moreover a variety of stimuli (e.g. using it immediately after drinking) may influence the breathalyzer decalibaration. This means that even when calibration took place relatively recently, you should pay attention to whether the results given is not suspicious. If the breathalyzer indicate the same number again and again or the display shows "SER" or "CAL", and if for someone who ingested alcohol the test result is 0 per mille, or vice versa - someone who does not drink, receives the positive result - it's a sign that the breathalyzer is decalibrated.

Where to calibrate a breathalyzer?

Calibrating the breathalyzer requires appropriate conditions and special equipment, and it can only be carried out by trained technical personnel. All this makes the self-calibration at home not possible. The room in which you want to perform this action, should have a constant air temperature and constant humidity, and there cannot occur even slight whiff of wind.

Technician firstly carries out various tests to see if the breathalyzer functions properly. If the results raise his anxiety, he restarts the device, and then - with the help of specialized machines called "simulators" - calibrates it. In the process the air is injected into the breathalyzer with a well-defined dose of alcohol. The measuring system should give the correct answer to the standard samples.

If you want to calibrate your breathalyzer, just look for reliable sites that specialize in this type of tasks. A good solution will be also selecting the sales point where you purchased this unit.