Havnt been using a digital tacho for long.
Just needed some advice. I leave the depot at 05.45, have my 15min break(20min) at around 06.45. Then i carry on driving & carry out other work untill around 10.00 when i have my 30min break(35min). I then set my driving timer back to zero & carry on driving which should allow me 4.5hrs driving or 6hrs driving & other work. Anyway at around 2pm having only been working since my completed break for around 3.5hrs the digital tacho starts displaying break! Why is it showing break when according to my timer i still have around 2.5 hours driving left. The little orange light under the spedo for the tacho also lights up. Am i missing something?!!!
why do you need a timer for driving with a digi tacho 
the 2 ive used ,siemens and stonebridge both display driving time ,if you have a 20 min ,then 35 min break it should reset driving time too zero .
dont know why its not unless your putting it on break or p.oa betwween the start of your shift and your 35 min break i.e your having a 20 min break then 30 mins p.oa and then later your 35 min break in which case it would reset driving to zero after the p.o.a not the 35 min break. now for coffee 
ady1:
why do you need a timer for driving with a digi tacho
dont know why its not unless your putting it on break or p.oa betwween the start of your shift and your 35 min break i.e your having a 20 min break then 30 mins p.oa and then later your 35 min break in which case it would reset driving to zero after the p.o.a not the 35 min break. now for coffee
agreed. if poa is used it counts towards your break. well done whoever made that ■■■■ up 
i wouldnt worry about it anyway. if i use poa during a shift i simply keep a track of driving time myself and go on that rather than what some ill programmed machine says. if you get pulled a printout will easily show that you are legal
ady1:
why do you need a timer for driving with a digi tacho
Surprisingly more and more customers buying the Hour Guards are using Digital Tachos but say that they are losing too much driving time on their digital tachos.
One company in Dover has the new digi’s fitted to comply with the law but the drivers are also using the analogue tacho as its more accurate
Davey Driver:
One company in Dover has the new digi’s fitted to comply with the law but the drivers are also using the analogue tacho as its more accurate
That is interesting. I wonder if you can just use the analogue legally as the digi is fitted but not used.
ady1:
why do you need a timer for driving with a digi tacho
dont know why its not unless your putting it on break or p.oa betwween the start of your shift and your 35 min break i.e your having a 20 min break then 30 mins p.oa and then later your 35 min break in which case it would reset driving to zero after the p.o.a not the 35 min break. now for coffee
I use a timer as ive heard many people say that the digital tacho isnt always correct & tends to round up minutes etc etc.
Thats why then, when i arrive at my first drop i normally take a 20 min break then put it on poa untill they arrive. I didnt realise putting tacho on poa would count towards a break, what a stupid idea that is!!! No point in using poa then really 
tyler4164:
No point in using poa then really
you only need poa if you want to keep your working hours down. it doesnt count towards your working time or break time so it means you can work longer hours under the WTD without affecting your driving hours. its up to you how you use poa. digi tachs dont recognise WTD hours though which is why poa confuses it. keep an eye on your own time if you choose to use it. or if you only use the crossed hammers and bed then the digi tach will be the only guide you need for driving time
My experience with digis is that they keep reasonable time on a run, but are lousy when in stop / start driving due to rounding (usually involving far too many shunts onto a bay 
).
3 x 15m break old rules trip them up and reset on older ones.
Time it with an drivers’ hours guard / egg timer / stopwatch / clock / sundial and work it out yourself.
Drivers’ Hours Guards are good and I can recommend them, but the WTD alarm annoys me when I’m doing multidrop work.
Yep the tachos count POA as break, stupid, so if you split your break and use POA between the 2 breaks it’ll reset of at the end of your POA, and then not reset a 2nd time when you take your 30minutes break later on when you want it to.
That means means you can end up doing more than 4.5hours driving according to the Tachograph, answer is, ignore it, or if the warnings really annoy you and you have the time, take 45mins instead of 30 for the second half of your split break (sounds pointless but the 15min initial break is still useful for keeping you safe from the 6hrs working rule). 
Rather than start a new thread, anyone know what it means when you get “Internal Error 01” and “Internal Error 03” flash up on the tacho? Had it while I was driving today, happened 2 or 3 times in about 3mins then didn’t recur all night?
Kiowan:
Rather than start a new thread, anyone know what it means when you get “Internal Error 01” and “Internal Error 03” flash up on the tacho? Had it while I was driving today, happened 2 or 3 times in about 3mins then didn’t recur all night?
Well I’m assuming it’s a Siemens, then Internal Error 01 & 03 means “A serious fault has appeared in the device or a communication fault”
Well that’s what is in a Siemens document stating the Event and Fault codes.
You may think that an hour guard or egg timer is more accurate than a digital tachograph but it’s the tachograph reading that counts.
tachograph:
You may think that an hour guard or egg timer is more accurate than a digital tachograph but it’s the tachograph reading that counts.
True, but the egg timer can help to keep track of things when the digi starts telling porkies.
If I think the unit has for some invalid reason reset the driving time, I’ll either take a print-off and work out where I’m meant to be at or spend ages scrolling through the display to find the same info. If there is a discrepancy building up between the DHG and the digi, I make the DHG “catch-up” with the digi.
speaking of faults. has anyone else suffered compatibility problems with their card? it has only happened at tesco but some units have rejected my card while most accept it. i cant remember the fault codes but this shouldnt happen anyway
Tachograph:
You may think that an hour guard or egg timer is more accurate than a digital tachograph but it’s the tachograph reading that counts.
It makes no difference over a 15 hr shift Tachograph, the problem is the Digi Tacho giving incorrect info to the driver such as already has been stated, POA being recorded as Break. The Hour Guards will record no more total driving time than the Digi Tacho, but will give the Driver a more accurate account of his time available by not rounding up.
The Digi Tachs are wrong in rounding up, if a driver is stationary at traffic lights or in congestion he is still classed as driving if he’s sitting behind the wheel with the engine running.
As we clearly state in all the documentation with the Hour Guard, they do not replace the Tacho but instead assist with giving accurate information.
If a Driver works 15 hrs using both the Hour Guard and the Digi Tacho, both will show that the 15 hrs was worked, but as with either device, they can only give data based on the information the driver gives them.
Maybe the Tacho Manufacturers should consider adapting the Hour Guard Software 
scanny77:
speaking of faults. has anyone else suffered compatibility problems with their card? it has only happened at tesco but some units have rejected my card while most accept it. i cant remember the fault codes but this shouldnt happen anyway
Used to get error 50 or something at my old work so sent card back and got a new one.
A month later it started again but the office downloaded card and it then worked so our best guess was it was the tacho and not the card.
Never found out for sure but no problems anywhere else since.
aranger:
Used to get error 50 or something at my old work so sent card back and got a new one.A month later it started again but the office downloaded card and it then worked so our best guess was it was the tacho and not the card.
Never found out for sure but no problems anywhere else since.
I usually get error 50 every Monday morning no matter how many times i try it. Then as i walk over the office and go to report it, i have a brainwave and try the card with the ‘chip’ facing upwards and it works.!
digi tacos only count whole calender minutes
therefore before you move you need to wait until the minute clicks over
so you dont lose the previous minute
ps if you have to do this your working too hard