CAR occurs in competition with elastic cotunelling or EC, the quantum mechanical tunneling of electrons between the normal leads via an intermediate state in the superconductor. This process conserves electron spin. As such, a detectable CAR potential at one electrode on the application of current to the other may be masked by the competing EC process, making clear detection difficult. In addition, normal Andreev reflection may occur at either interface, in conjunction with other normal electron scattering processes from the normal/superconductor interface.