I've been an avid vaper for the past 2+ years, I've gone through many different models, many different liquids. My current setup is a Boge Revolution 2, IkenVape Platinum Carto's, and I alternate between IkenVape RY4 VG and a few different Johnson Creek PG flavors.
For the past 5 months, I've had an ignition interlock device in both of my family cars. Before anyone gets high and mighty here - nobody's perfect and I'll leave it at that.
vaping while driving has never been a big deal for me, it's something I've always enjoyed until I got the breathalyzer installed. I've done TONS of searching via Google trying to see if the alcohols used in our vaporizers could actually trigger it. The interlock I have is a 'LifeSafer' FC100.
Early on, I discovered that most if not every flavored smoke juice I used would trigger the breathalyzer and either cause it to malfunction (abort, or retest) or outright issue a 'fail.' Now these things are VERY sensitive, anything past a .02 is a fail, anything over .00 is a warn. That lead me to avoid the flavored juices and stick with the aforementioned RY4 and JC Original flavors.
On occasion, the unit would still malfunction, but I hadn't gotten any fails in months. My wife had more trouble with the unit in her car than I ever did with mine. This past Wednesday night, after a particularly long work day where I had been happily vaping my IkenVape RY4 all day without eating or drinking much of anything, I went out to start the car and immediately failed. Since these FC100's are by no means perfect, and I have dealt with them dealing false positives I waited the 15 minutes, tried again and failed again.
This time I broke out my portable breathalyzer, a very simple keychain model that I picked up at Best Buy for $10. It has 3 lights, 0 to .05 is green, .05 is yellow, .08 is red. I tested on that, and it gave me a .05. I waited a few minutes, tried again - .05. I waited a half hour, tried again, and it was green. I gave it another try to start my car and failed for a 3rd time. I finally gave up and got a ride home.
Now I'm not a scientist, nor am I getting down on vaping (I still do it, just not within an hour of having to drive my car), and from what I can tell - the alcohols in my vape juice through inhalation (I vape like every 5-10 minutes mind you) - either raised my BAC or left enough 'residue' in my mouth and lungs to trick 2 different breathalyzers into believing I had an elevated BAC. Short of getting a blood test to confirm whether or not it actually raised my BAC - it's enough to alter my habits when it comes to driving.
So in short, this is for other vapers who are searching for info about breathalyzers and how they may be affected by electronic cigarettes - electronic cigarettes WILL trigger them. I'd recommend brushing your teeth and rinsing (with non alcoholic mouth wash) prior to trying to use one.
Anyone else have similar experiences to share?
For the past 5 months, I've had an ignition interlock device in both of my family cars. Before anyone gets high and mighty here - nobody's perfect and I'll leave it at that.
vaping while driving has never been a big deal for me, it's something I've always enjoyed until I got the breathalyzer installed. I've done TONS of searching via Google trying to see if the alcohols used in our vaporizers could actually trigger it. The interlock I have is a 'LifeSafer' FC100.
Early on, I discovered that most if not every flavored smoke juice I used would trigger the breathalyzer and either cause it to malfunction (abort, or retest) or outright issue a 'fail.' Now these things are VERY sensitive, anything past a .02 is a fail, anything over .00 is a warn. That lead me to avoid the flavored juices and stick with the aforementioned RY4 and JC Original flavors.
On occasion, the unit would still malfunction, but I hadn't gotten any fails in months. My wife had more trouble with the unit in her car than I ever did with mine. This past Wednesday night, after a particularly long work day where I had been happily vaping my IkenVape RY4 all day without eating or drinking much of anything, I went out to start the car and immediately failed. Since these FC100's are by no means perfect, and I have dealt with them dealing false positives I waited the 15 minutes, tried again and failed again.
This time I broke out my portable breathalyzer, a very simple keychain model that I picked up at Best Buy for $10. It has 3 lights, 0 to .05 is green, .05 is yellow, .08 is red. I tested on that, and it gave me a .05. I waited a few minutes, tried again - .05. I waited a half hour, tried again, and it was green. I gave it another try to start my car and failed for a 3rd time. I finally gave up and got a ride home.
Now I'm not a scientist, nor am I getting down on vaping (I still do it, just not within an hour of having to drive my car), and from what I can tell - the alcohols in my vape juice through inhalation (I vape like every 5-10 minutes mind you) - either raised my BAC or left enough 'residue' in my mouth and lungs to trick 2 different breathalyzers into believing I had an elevated BAC. Short of getting a blood test to confirm whether or not it actually raised my BAC - it's enough to alter my habits when it comes to driving.
So in short, this is for other vapers who are searching for info about breathalyzers and how they may be affected by electronic cigarettes - electronic cigarettes WILL trigger them. I'd recommend brushing your teeth and rinsing (with non alcoholic mouth wash) prior to trying to use one.
Anyone else have similar experiences to share?
