Alcosense Zero User manual

AlcoSense Zero Instruction Manual

Thank you for purchasing your new AlcoSense Zero Breathalyser.

As you know, you never can tell how long it takes for alcohol to clear from

your body after having a drink. It depends on many variables including body

mass, time of day, food intake and even if you have a cold.

Road safety is our primary concern, specifically making it easy for you to

know when you are clear of alcohol.With only one-eighth of the English limit

in your system you are 37% more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than

when completely sober. AlcoSense gives you the tools to make an informed

decision about when the alcohol has cleared your system.

Like me, many responsible drivers use the AlcoSense breathalyser to help

make sure they’re OK to drive the morning after. Thank you again for

purchasing this product and I’m sure you will be delighted with it.

Yours sincerely,

Hunter Abbott, Managing Director

Important - Please read

It is safest to drive when you have no alcohol left in your blood stream. As a result we only

recommend driving when the AlcoSense breathalyser reads ‘LO’. Before using the AlcoSense

breathalyser you agree you have read the operating instructions & are aware of the legal alcohol

limit in your jurisdiction. The manufacturer distributors and sellers of this product exclude all liability

for improper use or loss or damage caused by actions taken by you after use of this product. Please

be aware of the drink drive limit in your jurisdiction.

AlcoSense Zero User Manual Version 1.1

How Breathalysers Work 3

How Alcohol is Processed by the Body 3

Do’s and don’ts: Things That Breathalyser 4

Can Affect the Reading of Your

Getting Started 5

Installing the Batteries 6

Manually Cleaning the Sensor 7

How to Perform a Breath Test 8–9

Possible Error Screens 9

Understanding the Results 10

Drink Drive Limits 11

Maintaining your AlcoSense Breathalyser 12

Recalibration 13

Troubleshooting 14–15

Technical speciﬁcations 16

Legal & Warranty 17

Contents

How Breathalysers Work

Breathalysers work by measuring the concentration of alcohol vapour in

your breath. Contrary to popular belief the alcohol is not coming from

residue in your mouth but is actually evaporating from the blood that passes

through your lungs when you breathe. The amount of alcohol evaporating

from your lungs is directly proportional to the amount of alcohol in your

blood stream making it possible to accurately calculate the per mil Blood

Alcohol Concentration (‰BAC) or Milligrams of alcohol per Litre of Breath

(mg/l) and therefore your level of intoxication.

How Alcohol Is Processed by the Body

When you drink, alcohol is absorbed into the blood stream through your

mouth and throat but mostly through the stomach and small intestine.

The more you drink the more alcohol is absorbed by the body and the higher

your BAC or mg/l reading will become. Between 20 and 90 minutes after the

alcohol is consumed it is distributed equally around the body through the

blood stream. This is known as the Point of Equilibrium.

As blood ﬂows round the body around 90% of the alcohol it contains is

broken down in to water and carbon dioxide by the liver in a process

called Oxidation. The remaining 10% of the alcohol is passed from the

body through the lungs and kidneys. A healthy liver typically breaks down

alcohol at a rate of one unit of alcohol per hour but the more alcohol

that is consumed the longer it can take for the liver to process each unit.

When you stop drinking your level of intoxication may stay constant or

if you have been drinking heavily it could even increase for around

90 minutes afterwards. This is because of the time it takes for alcohol to

reach the bloodstream from the time you actually had the drink. If you have

eaten food this can also increase the time, as the release of alcohol into the

bloodstream can be slowed by it being absorbed by food in the stomach.

This is the reason why we do not recommend using the breathalyser

just after ﬁnishing drinking because there are too many factors that can

inﬂuence the reading. The ideal time is the morning after.

Do’s and don’ts: Things That Can Affect the Reading of

Your Breathalyser

There are some factors that can affect the reading of breathalysers whether

it be the AlcoSense breathalyser or a police system. Please note that certain

medications and conditions including diabetes can give false positive readings.

If you ﬁnd you have a positive reading when you have not drunk alcohol

please contact us for assistance.

Do:

• Use the breathalyser the morning after a few drinks.

• Read the instructions carefully.

• Phone us if you have any difﬁculties.

• Only drive when the AlcoSense says LO and you feel 100%. Any amount of

alcohol in your system will affect your ability to drive.

• Leave a minimum of 5 minutes between tests. Do not perform more than

5 tests in one hour and no more than 20 tests in 24 hours. More frequent

testing can cause a build-up of breath condensation or alcohol vapour in

the breathalyser which can temporarily affect accuracy.

Don’t:

• Blow into the breathalyser within 10 minutes of drinking, high levels of

alcohol in the mouth can permanently damage the sensor.

• Perform a breath test within 90 minutes of drinking. Blood alcohol levels

can rise for up to 90 minutes after drinking (see page 3for more info).

Results taken before this time can rise or fall quickly.

• Use the breathalyser for at least 30 minutes after using mouthwash, breath

spray, cough medicine or anything else that may contain alcohol - you may

get a false positive reading.

• Use the breathalyser for at least 30 minutes after having a cigarette or

eating ripe fruit - you may get a false positive reading.

• Perform a test in dirty air, i.e. a smokey room or pub.

• Use the breathalyser if you are breathing quickly (for example, after running

up the stairs) or have been holding your breath. This can falsely lower or

raise the reading respectively. Wait until you are breathing normally again.

• Perform two tests sequentially, you may get a variation between readings.

This is because it can take a few minutes for the alcohol concentration

inside the lungs to stabilise again after the ﬁrst test, or residual alcohol

vapour in the breathalyser may affect the accuracy of the second reading.

Getting Started

This section will take you step by step through the basics of using your

new AlcoSense Breathalyser, namely:

1. Unpacking the box.

2. Preparing it for use for the ﬁrst time:

a) Installing the batteries

b) Cleaning the sensor

3. How to perform a breath test and understanding the results.

4. Things that can affect the readings.

5. Troubleshooting any problems.

Unpacking the Box

In the box you will have the following components:

1. 1 x AlcoSense Breathalyser

2. This instruction manual

3. 6 x blow tubes

Installing the Batteries

1. Turn the AlcoSense breathalyser over so the back is facing you.

Following the diagram below remove the battery compartment cover.

2. Insert three new, good quality Alkaline 1.5v AAA batteries into the

slots in the battery compartment making sure that the batteries are

inserted the right way round as indicated in the battery compartment.

3. The unit will automatically start to clean the sensor which takes 120

seconds. This should be performed once every four weeks or after a

period of several weeks or more without use.

4. Put the battery compartment cover back on again following the

diagram below but in reverse.

IMPORTANT: When replacing the batteries only use new, good quality

branded batteries. Never use batteries previously used elsewhere or a

mixture of new and used batteries. Although the battery voltage

indicator may show OK, under load the battery power may collapse. This

could affect the accuracy of the readings.

Manually Cleaning the Sensor

We recommend performing a clean once every 4–6 weeks, or if the

breathalyser has not been used for a period of time.

To clean the sensor remove the batteries then re-insert them. “Clean”

will ﬂash on the screen and it will count down from 120 to 0 seconds.

This process increases the accuracy of your breathalyser by removing any

oxidation or contaminants which could build up on the sensor.

Please note that the first test performed after a clean may give a slightly

higher result or show a small amount of alcohol present when there is none

due to vapour released during cleaning.

The cleaning process uses a signiﬁcant amount of power from the

batteries. If you clean the sensor several times in a row you can exhaust

your batteries. If you have recently performed a clean and wish to skip the

process when replacing the batteries this can be done so by double clicking

the power button.

Automatic Sensor Clean

The unit will automatically clean the sensor every 25 tests. If you wish

to skip the cleaning process double click the power button while it is in

process.

Turning your AlcoSense On and Off

You can turn your AlcoSense on and off by pressing and holding the power

key, signiﬁed by the power logo below, on the front of the unit

How to Perform a Breath Test

Performing a breath test is easy and can be performed at any time,

anywhere quickly and easily. Responsible drivers ﬁnd the AlcoSense

breathalyser particularly useful to help make sure they are clear of alcohol

the morning after.

AlcoSense is a sensitive measurement device. Performing a breath

test less than 10 minutes after drinking risks blowing high levels of

alcohol directly from your mouth into the system causing permanent

damage to the sensor and causing the system to read inaccurately.

Blood alcohol levels can rise for up to 90 minutes after drinking, for

best results only use after this period and ideally the morning after. Do

not blow directly into the blow hole without a blow tube – this can

damage the sensor and signiﬁcantly reduce the lifetime of your unit.

1. Insert a new blow tube in the hole on the left side of the breathalyser,

shown in the image below. Re-using blow tubes can decrease the

accuracy of your readings and un-hygienic. Do not use drinking straws

or similar as the diameter may be different givign a bad fit, or split

causing air to escape and reducing the accuracy of your readings.

Replacement tubes are inexpensive can be purchased from

alcosense.co.uk or an AlcoSense retailer.

2. Turn the unit on by pressing andholding the power key. The unit

will display the number of tests performed on the screen for three

seconds, then it will display “Wait” for 30 to 90 seconds. This time is

used to pre-heat the sensor to operating temperature and check the

sensor condition. It will then count down from 9 to 0.

3. The AlcoSense will then beep and ﬂash BLOW on the screen. At this

point you must blow into the AlcoSense breathalyser. IMPORTANT:

when blowing use a pressure similar to a sigh. When you

have the correct pressure the breathalyser will make a constant beep.

You must keep blowing for around 5-7 seconds until the unit makes a

double beep.

4. Your result will be displayed.

Please note: Leave a minimum of 5 minutes between tests. Do not perform

more than 5 tests in one hour and no more than 20 tests in 24 hours. More

frequent testing can cause a build-up of breath condensation or alcohol

vapour in the breathalyser which can temporarily affect accuracy. If you

perform two tests sequentially, you may get a variation between readings

for the above reasons and that it can take a few minutes for the alcohol

concentration inside the lungs to stabilise again after the ﬁrst test.

Possible Error Screens

Either the pressure you blew at was too variable or

you did not blow for long enough. Take a deep breath

before blowing and blow out at a consistent pressure

like you’re taking a sigh until you hear the double beep.

Either the breathalyser did not detect your breath as

the pressure was too low, or you did not blow into the

breathalyser within 10 seconds of it starting to say

blow on the screen.

WARNING: AlcoSense is a sensitive measurement device. Performing a

breath test less than 10 minutes after drinking risks blowing high levels of

alcohol directly from your mouth into the system which could permanently

damage the sensor and cause the system to read inaccurately. Blood alcohol

levels can continue to rise for up to 90 minutes after drinking, as a result

we only recommend using the Breathalyser after this time (and ideally

the morning after) to ensure your reading will not increase after you test

yourself. Do not blow directly into the blow hole without a blow tube – this

can damage the sensor and signiﬁcantly reduce the lifetime of your unit.

START HERE

Instruction Manual

56789

2 3 4