Overview

This alcohol gas sensor detects the concentration of alcohol gas in the air and ouputs its reading as an analog voltage. The concentration sensing range of 0.04 mg/L to 4 mg/L is suitable for breathalysers (the legal limit of breath alcohol concentration, or BrAC, in most US states is 0.08 grams per 210 liters, or 0.38 mg/L). The sensor can operate at temperatures from -10 to 50°C and consumes less than 150 mA at 5 V. Please read the MQ3 datasheet (153k pdf) for more information about the sensor.

Connections

Connecting five volts across the heating (H) pins keeps the sensor hot enough to function correctly. Connecting five volts at either the A or B pins causes the sensor to emit an analog voltage on the other pins. A resistive load between the output pins and ground sets the sensitivity of the detector. Please note that the picture in the datasheet for the top configuration is wrong. Both configurations have the same pinout consistent with the bottom configuration.The resistive load should be calibrated for your particular application using the equations in the datasheet, but a good starting value for the resistor is 200 kΩ.

We offer a Pololu breakout board that makes it easier to interface with these sensors.

Note: These sensors could have orange or blue plastic cases. There is no functional difference between the two colored cases.

File downloads

• Alcohol gas sensor MQ-3 datasheet (153k pdf)

Recommended links

• Blood alcohol content