Test Breath Ketones without a Ketonix (using a cheap breathalyzer)

ketonix
acetone
breath
#27

Ok, definitely, you suck! Haha. Good on ya!

(gooeykablooey) #28

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I got mine new on ebay for $2.65 just had to wait a while for it to ship. Works awesome even though pee strips show nothing

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#29

That’s awesome @Lolo

Mine usually reads 0.04 or 0.05.

(gooeykablooey) #30

@yogipete I’m not really sure if my result is good or cruddy :slight_smile: I just take that I’m getting a result at all as a good sign and figured I’d share that this cheapo model from eBay does work

(A ham loving ham! - VA6KD) #31

I bought a ~$10 (Canadian) unit from Amazon this week and regularly blow 0.03-0.05. I asked my (non-keto) wife to provide a breath specimen and she came up zeros.

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#32

This is really intriguing. If enough data could be pulled together to get a general idea of what the levels correspond to that would be awesome.

I have an older Ketonix Sport myself (pre 2015 model, but above the most basic). From that model onward they did do more than just 3 lights giving a general range. With the Sport they still have 3 (or 4 actually) lights, but they blink a number of times (between 1 and 10) indicating what level they are at within the general range. From that, many people did some comparisons with blood ketone devices to try and get at least a general idea of what was where. It was still a bit hazzy as I recall, but for many was pretty good (I usually hit 2-4 red, which if I recall would correlate to something around over 3 mmol, but again, these were hazzy estimates at best).
I still have mine around somewhere, but haven’t used it in a while (haven’t really felt the need, and it started acting up a lot a while back to the point where it wouldn’t get past the warm up stage sometimes, so wasn’t sure how reliable it was anymore). I’ve kinda wanted one of the newer ones that can track and give better readouts in software, but the price is prohibitive for something I don’t see that I really need. A cheaper option that could get close would be great though.

As for keto breath, while i was usually able to register on it fine(the possible issue for some may found when reading further into the instructions where they mention acetone is heavy and typically in the last 10-20% or so of the air in your lungs), I don’t know if I have much of keto breath now, or anytime beyond the first couple months. I recall back then having a bit of a metallic taste in my mouth sometimes, but otherwise I don’t know. I’ve asked my wife before and she said she hadn’t noticed anything in particular about my breath, so there’s that at least. My siblings aren’t usually super close to my face but they’d be the next group to actually say something to me about it, and they haven’t. I wonder sometimes if I’m either just not near people to bother them or if others just don’t want to say anything, or if there’s simply no problem.

#33

Depends on your keto aims. I Really can’t eat carbs so I seem to be pretty deep in ketosis.

#34

I really cannot understand how a $5 device can have a digital readout and a $200 ketonix flashes lights to indicate numbers.

Given how primitive the ketonix seems I actually doubt whether the underlying technology is actually any different to a breathyliser.

IN FACT, WE CAN TEST IT…

Can you get your wife to drink some alcohol, wait a few minutes then use the ketonix? If it registers anything that would prove the underlying tech is no more advanced than the cheapies.

(Tom) #35

I don’t suppose folks would mind including the bands of the breathalyzers they purchased? Maybe some are better for our use than others.

#36

There’s not a lot to choose from on eBay. There’s only about three cheapies. You can see the photos posted on this thread that match.

(Chris W) #37

I don’t think the alcohol test “proves” that the Ketonix is not more useful than the cheap devices for measuring acetone in breath, but according to the Ketonix Manual , pages 28 and 29, the Ketonix will register a positive result if you have been drinking alcohol. It also says that carbs can trigger a false positive due to methane production from carb digestion.

#38

The old ones were just the flashing lights (and didn’t cost $200 back then, though they were still expensive). The 2015 onward models, I believe, actually link up to software on your computer (that they make) and give more precise readouts, tracking and visualization (graphs) that way.

You may still be right though that the underlying tech they were or are using isn’t much better or different from the cheap Breathalyzers. Personally, I can see the software itself being useful for some, but not worth an extra $180 or so if it’s possible to get near the same functionality from a $20 (or less) Breathalyzer for my own purposes. So… would be good to figure out how different they may be and start trying to track and determine relationships between BAC level readouts and Blood Ketone levels.

#39

I didn’t say it proves a ketonix is more or less useful. I said it proves the underlying tech is the same.

Good to know, regarding the manual pages 28 29. This is my point. That the underlying tech is the same as a $2-$10 breathalyzer. Personally I couldn’t give 2 hoots about the computer software. If the underlying tech is the same all we need is a lookup chart for our mg/L of acetone conversion. It would appear that this is the only smarts of the ketonix. I cannot see how it’s worth an extra $200.

#40

The big question that remains: is the ketonix actually more precise in regards to detecting acetone? Only cheap Breathalyzers cannot distinguish between acetone and alcohol, as the ones acceptable for most professional and legal purposes must be able to make the distinction. I wonder if the others are also more precise (part of the reason for additional cost), and thus, conversely, I wonder if the cheap ones are highly inaccurate. Ketonix could have the additional precision the same way more expensive Breathalyzers can be more precise (along with being able to distinguish between different chemicals).

We might find the ketonix isn’t much better still (it’s not considered super accurate), but the question is still open at this point.

(A ham loving ham! - VA6KD) #41

I think the sensor is a TGS822: https://www.soselectronic.com/products/figaro/tgs-822-7719 This sensor specifically detects alcohols and other solvent gasses (acetone).

You can find them on eBay for around $6USD for quantity of 1. They need to be coupled to a humidity sensor as their output is biased by the humidity level at the time of the sample. Someone’s already tried it with an Arduino module: https://jenslabs.com/2013/06/06/ketosense-an-arduino-based-ketosis-detector/

There are several other models of sensors in the same family, but no others that I can find detect solvent gases.

#42

Sorry, but again I no longer think this question is open. I understand the ketonix does 3 light levels of 10 intervals. A total of 30 intervals. The cheap breathalyzer in mg/L works at .01 intervals, where 0.30 is high and 0.01 is low, so again 30 intervals.

A breathalyzer, by necessity, must have at least this many levels. Anything more refined would be too easily susceptible to technique of use. Actually as far as I can tell (by the accounts) the ketonix is far more susceptible to technique than the $2 breathalyzer.

#43

Thanks for that link. A shame the guy didn’t know more about ketosis. Interesting that he found a correlation between the ketostix and the breathalyzer. That’s what we’ve been wondering here.

More data needed. @Daisy did you find where that data was? Can you hint me where to search on the forum?

#44

The newer (2015 and onward models) ones may actually show more intervals when linked up to the software. I don’t know, I don’t have them.

Regardless, even for the old, the question is still open. It doesn’t matter if the breathalyzers have more intervals if it generates those intervals less precisely (in terms of accuracy). Even various blood ketone meters are known for having differences in precision. One may consistantly and properly show .5 mmol, while another may show anywhere from .02 - 2.1 (as an example) when taken 3 times in a row with none matching.

So, the question remains open, can we depend on the readout of the cheap breathalyzer to indicate anything more than the presence of ketones in the breath (in other words, to say whether in some level of ketosis, whatever it may be), or can we actually reasonably rely on it’s readouts correlating (at least decently) to blood ketone levels, so that we know, say, between .07 and .09 BAC is around 1 mmol that we’d find in a blood ketone analyzer (or whatever it may be)? The Ketonix may still be better in that regard, or it may not, there hasn’t been much to show either way yet.

#45

I see no reason to say the cheaper models are less accurate. It’s a perfectly testable thing. It’s too early for me to comment on the accuracy of my model. I think in all likelihood they use the same sensor.

The breathalyzer I have always shows the same reading on repeated testing. That’s not what I hear about the ketonix. By all accounts the ketonix does not do this.

So, in terms of which device we should speculate about the accuracy of I think we would be better to point the finger at the recently developed ketonix, not the decades old tech of the breathalyzer, which has in all likelihood had it’s kinks ironed out a long time ago.

Are people complaining about the accuracy of the new ketonix as much as they did about the old one?

#46

Yea, I’m not saying the ketonix necessarily is better in that regard. I’m saying the question is still open and any speculations as to which is better in that regard is, at the moment, just that.