Vehicle detector loops, which employ magnetic fields activated by a presence of metal, are a vital part of your drive-thru customer service business, a critical element of your efficiency and a pinnacle element when it comes to drive-thru repair and drive-thru maintenance. Detector loops improve your timing and reduce customer wait times, and therefore frustrations, by better detecting approaching cars.

To help you ramp-up your vehicle detector loops and scale-back drive-thru driven customer frustration we've got 4 tips on how to put your vehicle detector loop into overdrive...and a few BONUS troubleshooting tips:

1. Maintenance: detector loops, like everything else, need proper maintenance. Ideally, you would want to inspect your loops at least once a year to ensure they are in proper working order. If there are any issues, send them in be sure to look into drive-thru repairs because you need to address these issues immediately to avoid timing issues moving forward.
2. Replacement: if your detector loops are going through proper drive-thru maintenance and drive-thru repairs they will last an average of 7 to 10 years. The less maintenance however the lower the lifecycle. A good rule of thumb on when to replace your vehicle detector loops, is to replace them if/when they give you trouble twice a year or more. 
3. Check Detection Settings: your detection settings are worth their weight in burgers for drive-thru owners. Without proper detection you can miss out on customers and frustrate others. To ensure that your detection settings are top-notch you need to A/B test them for a couple of things:
   -Failure to Detect: if your detector loop fails to activate on certain ars you will want to check to see if your magnetic field extends high enough. If not, you can miss cars with higher undercarriages, like SUVs and trucks.
   -Failure to Distinguish: Ever had this problem... two cars pass through your loop and only notify you of one car? This is because of a weak magnetic field failing to identify a break between cars. This can be because your settings are off or your unit is in need of drive-thru maintenance or drive-thru repair.
4. Timing: you will want to regularly check your timing to ensure that there is no lag between car entry and the notification received on the headset, because in this business: lag is money. If there is lag you will need to adjust your settings or perform maintenance or replace the loops.

Too Late for Maintenance?  Time for Troubleshooting
If it is too little, too late for drive-thru maintenance and your detector-loop system is already on the fritz-no worries, we've got your back. Let's start with the stereotypical tech-support step: reset your system. You can either turn the power button on and off or unplug the unit entirely.

If that didn't do it-and you likely tried that before you searched for vehicle detector loop troubleshooting-then try checking the following:

• Check for loose cable and electrical connections
• Look for exposed or frayed lead-in wires
• Check if the drive-thru menu board was moved, adjusted or relocated, without also relocating your detector loops
• Inspect for the adverse effects of weather damage

Failing all the above tips...just call us here at CE. We'll help you out with all your drive-thru repair needs.