Tachos and ignition 'on'

hey all,

newbie question for you. If you switch on the ignition when on ‘Break’ will the tacho automatically revert to ‘Other Work’ ? Had a couple of issues lately switching on the ignition in order to see how much break i had taken (the ones which don’t light up when a button is pressed). Ah 28 minutes, stay here another few then. Off i go believing the plus 30 minutes i’ve just taken resets my driving time, including the 15 mins taken earlier. Then i find ive not taken enough on the second break so only left with 15 mins from earlier!! Do all tachos do this or just some, or none at all…■■?

thanks

tubbstattsyrup:
hey all,

newbie question for you. If you switch on the ignition when on ‘Break’ will the tacho automatically revert to ‘Other Work’ ? Had a couple of issues lately switching on the ignition in order to see how much break i had taken (the ones which don’t light up when a button is pressed). Ah 28 minutes, stay here another few then. Off i go believing the plus 30 minutes i’ve just taken resets my driving time, including the 15 mins taken earlier. Then i find ive not taken enough on the second break so only left with 15 mins from earlier!! Do all tachos do this or just some, or none at all…■■?

thanks

No.

You can move the truck a fair bit down the road (50 yards or so) and switch the tacho back to break and your break will continue.

You have another issue here.

I have had the same problem in the past , usually having to turn the ignition on to shut the sunroof when the rain gets too heavy.
It can be changed by the workshop .
It’s something to do with the default settings.
Some change to break/rest others default to other work .
It can get confusing if you drive various vehicles.

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Jimmy McNulty:

tubbstattsyrup:
hey all,

newbie question for you. If you switch on the ignition when on ‘Break’ will the tacho automatically revert to ‘Other Work’ ? Had a couple of issues lately switching on the ignition in order to see how much break i had taken (the ones which don’t light up when a button is pressed). Ah 28 minutes, stay here another few then. Off i go believing the plus 30 minutes i’ve just taken resets my driving time, including the 15 mins taken earlier. Then i find ive not taken enough on the second break so only left with 15 mins from earlier!! Do all tachos do this or just some, or none at all…■■?

thanks

No.

You can move the truck a fair bit down the road (50 yards or so) and switch the tacho back to break and your break will continue.

You have another issue here.

I think I have experienced this and mentioned it before. There is a setting on a tacho which stops you turning the ignition on without automatically switching it to ‘other work’. Not common but you come across it very occasionally. Why a firm should request this I don’t know - presumably to stop you listening to the radio whilst on break!

I always note down when breaks start and then I can check my watch - always useful when one goes to get a snack. Some folk are good at remembering - I tend to forget. You can set your timer on the phone as well.

The firm I worked for when I discovered this had a fleet of about a 100 trucks and there were 3 which were 2nd hand which had this setting. Perhaps when the tacho is calibrated they would put them back on standard setting. Not come across it again and I doubt that you will.

tubbstattsyrup:
hey all,

newbie question for you. If you switch on the ignition when on ‘Break’ will the tacho automatically revert to ‘Other Work’ ? Had a couple of issues lately switching on the ignition in order to see how much break i had taken (the ones which don’t light up when a button is pressed). Ah 28 minutes, stay here another few then. Off i go believing the plus 30 minutes i’ve just taken resets my driving time, including the 15 mins taken earlier. Then i find ive not taken enough on the second break so only left with 15 mins from earlier!! Do all tachos do this or just some, or none at all…■■?

thanks

.
.
Yes that is a thing that can happen with some lorries but not all, some lorries do this, others don’t, it depends how the unit has been configured in the settings.

Best thing to do is either pull up for your break and then just leave you ignition on or set all the windows and things how you would like them for the next 45 minutes and then turn the ignition off and then just leave everything alone.

Lots of lorries headlights and side lights work without the engine been on so you could turn the lights on then press the button on the tacho and see how long you’ve done then turn your lights back off.
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What mode the tachograph defaults to when the ignition is switched on or off depends on how the tachograph is set up.

On the newer Stoneridge tachographs the default ignition on/off mode can be changed using the company tachograph card, to change the default ignition on/off mode on a VDO tachograph requires a visit to the tachograph centre.

When you switch the ignition on or off you will notice the activity symbol flashing for 5 seconds, if you change the mode back to break while the symbol is flashing it will record an uninterrupted break.

Sent from my mobile.

If you have a cab that shows you on your dashboard how much driving/breaks etc. you’ve taken then most will show that you’ve taken 15 if you take anything less than a full 45.
This is because it only shows ‘full’ completed breaks, and 30 minutes only constitutes a full break if it follows a 15.
The reason for this is that when you take a second break, it adds the time onto your first break, and if it started from 30 then some drivers would carry on once it reached 45, meaning they’d only had a 15 for their second break, which would be illegal

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Happened to me when we got new trucks only I didn’t realise and got an infringement [emoji22]

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As said some do this some don’t, its a blinking nuisance in the summer especially when you might want to sit in the lorry for a while but you can’t open the windows cos some plank wired the thing up badly in the first place.

Best way to get it put right is to do print outs and write on the back the reason for the machine recording the wrong mode, and defect the vehicle every time, after a week or two of this they’ll get the thing fixed.

always have at least one minute more break than you need some tachos are dodgy like that too

always have at least one minute more break than you need some tachos are dodgy like that too

My advice is to set the tacho to break, get out and lock your vehicle then check the time. Start going back to your vehicle 45 minutes later. And you’ll never be short on your break. Clearly this doesnt work if you’re going to watch something entertaining on your tablet in the cab. Or if you have a gaffer who will go mad if you have 48 minutes instead of 45. But it’s not a bad starting point.

Happy Christmas all,

Pete :laughing: :laughing:

I’ve had this problem when cab hopping. You get a few seconds to press the button to switch it back to break after you turn the ignition on. It usually flashes the break icon for a few seconds and if you hit the button it will go back to break without you losing the break accumulated so far.

I’ve lost a couple of breaks due to this issue and not knowing about it when in another truck.

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