Reviewed By	Darren Griffin
Review Date	18th May 2017
Manufacturer	AlcoSense
RRP	£99.99 inc VAT
9

Driving whilst impaired through alcohol is now almost universally regarded as anti-social. Long gone are the days when it was acceptable to drive to the pub, down a skin full and then drive home again.

The first blood alcohol limit for drivers was introduced in January 1966 and the limit was set, in England and Wales, at 80 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood (equivalent to 35 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath), that same limit remains today. Scotland reduced the limit in 2014 to 50 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood (equivalent to 22 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath).

Although numerous campaigns reduced the number of drink driving casualties the previous steady decline has changed to an increase in recent years with statistics showing a large rise due to “morning after” driving offences.

So, whilst I'd hope all of you leave the car at home if drinking, many of you may have inadvertently driven whilst over the limit the morning afterwards. And that's where I see alcohol breathalysers devices such as those manufactured by AlcoSense come into play. AlcoSense have a range of devices but I have been testing their mid-range Excel, a £99.99 battery powered unit that claims an accuracy of +0.15% BAC, -0.00% BAC.

In the Box
The Excel is a palm sized device, is powered by 3 x AAA batteries and has a 48mm full colour LCD. Included in the box is a micro USB cable (used for software update), batteries, a small user manual and 5 wrapped blow tubes. On the front is a central power button and one either side of that two menu buttons and the underside of the unit slides down to reveal the port into which the blow tube inserts

Setup
Pop in the batteries, press the power button and the unit will start-up in setup mode. Cycle through volume and brightness settings and then input the blood alcohol limit for your region. As I'm in England that's 0.80%. Because Scotland has a lower limit the Excel helpfully defaults to 0.50% as a safety precaution. The user guide has a table of limits for other countries should you need to adjust the limit whilst travelling abroad. Then set date and time and you're ready to test.

Use
Slide open the unit, insert a blow tube into its receptacle and then start to blow. The display guides you through the process, advising you to blow steadily and indicating if you are not blowing hard enough or do not blow for long enough. Once sufficient breath has been sampled it beeps and a few seconds later the reading is displayed. AlcoSense use a traffic light type system, a green display is a pass with Trace or No alcohol detected , < 0.09 mg/L equivalent to 0.20% BAC, Amber indicates alcohol present and Red, complete with a 'DO NOT DRIVE' sign, indicates you are close to or over the drink drive limit.

It's as simple as that. It's important to understand that the unit errs on the side of caution so over-reads by 20% to ensure safety and minimise any risk of under-reading prior to the re-calibration that is required every 12months.

Also, in common with every other portable breathalyser, you should wait at least 10 minutes after consuming your last drink to ensure any mouth alcohol has evaporated and to allow 3 minutes between tests to allow the sensor to purge the last test.

Testing
I had a brief opportunity to test the AlcoSense Excel against a Lion alcometer 500, a unit currently in use with UK Police. Whilst not a scientific test by any means, it did allow me to verify the accuracy of the Excel. I had two volunteers imbibe for the test. Subject 1 consumed a 250ml glass of white wine, the other five pints of lager.

15 minutes after the last drink I ran the test.

Subject 1
Lion alcometer
Reading: 0.20 mg/L = PASS

AlcoSense Excel
Reading: 0.26 mg/L = PASS

Subject 2
Lion alcometer
Reading: 0.52 mg/L = FAIL

AlcoSense Excel
Reading: 0.65 = FAIL

So the AlcoSense was consistent and over-read in both tests when compared to the calibrated alcometer. That's quite impressive because, although this uses the same sensor technology as the Home Office approved devices that Police use, the sensor it uses is much smaller. AlcoSense state it's sensor is a 64mm² Fuel Cell compared to 200mm² sensors typical of police units (Lion do not specifically state what sensor size they employ).

Conclusions
In the few weeks I've had the unit I've had no issues with testing, the unit has consistently produced a reading that matches what I expected given the drinks consumed.

It's compact, easy to use and reliable. I do wish they could incorporate storage for a couple of blow tubes, something that it lacks currently, but that's a minor gripe.

In common with all breathalysers this unit does require recalibration every 12 months to ensure accuracy, AlcoSense charge £19.99 for this service.

If you're in the market for a breathalyser then you can't go wrong with this one.

Tweet