What Is the Best Conductive Ink Pen for 2021?
Ink pens are appreciated for being one of the most widely used writing tools found in the workplace. In fact, they are so common that it’s easy to take them for granted. Besides fun colors and gel ink, there hasn’t been much change in how we use pens, until innovation brought us the conductive ink pen. If you are just finding out about this new type of pen, continue reading to find out more about them and which pen gets high marks for being the best.
What Are Conductive Ink Pens?
Conductive ink pens are pens that contain conductive ink. This type of ink stands out for its ability to help produce reliable electric charges. How does it do this? It is made by infusing writing ink with a conductive material such as graphite or silver. When you use the pen for drawing those conductive particles remain on whatever surface you apply the ink to, creating an instant electricity conductor that can interact with electronic components.
How Are Conductive Pens Used?
Companies and individuals who routinely work with circuit boards are already making good use of conductive pens. They are fantastic for making high conductivity silver traces on circuit boards. For instance, having one or more of these pens at rework and repair stations can save operators a lot of time and effort. They can be used for completing broken traces and to create new traces where needed. Once the ink is applied to a surface, it dries quickly. Plus, the ink holds up well under certain high temperatures.
Common uses for a conductive pen include:
- Circuit board trace repair and rework
- EMI shielding
- Linking components without solder
- Prototype modifications
- Soldering terminations
Our Pick for Best Conductive Pen
There are a lot of worthy contenders in the area of conductive pens. However, after weighing all the factors for what we view as essential elements for such a highly innovative pen, we choose just one brand. As of now, our choice for the best conductive ink pen is Chemtronics.
The Chemtronics conductive ink pen is designed for industrial use, and it looks and handles like a regular marker pen. The ink is of high quality and its durability is also good. Another thing we like is that this pen comes in several style options, giving you more creative freedom to work with conductive ink.
Circuitworks Standard Tip
The standard tip flows ink much like a medium ball point pen and it is the multipurpose conductive pen of choice for the workbench. The ink color is silver, and users can produce fast silver traces with short or long lines. It is safe to use with hot air soldering irons at the lowest temperature range.
Circuitworks Micro Tip
Sometimes a rework or repair calls for more intricate silver traces, and this micro tip is the pen that can make this task a cinch.
Circuitworks Flex Tip
This specialty silver ink conductive pen is designed for use with flexible surfaces such as Melinex and Mylar. If flex circuitry is a part of the work, choose this pen for its fast-drying ink, micro tip, and versatility.
Circuitworks Nickel Conductive
This is the style of pen to get when jobs call for reliable electrical and thermal conductivity. It has a standard tip, and the ink dries in minutes.