Article: Can we nix Ink's pH? Water-based inks may please environmentalists, but converters are still wrestling with justification. In the meantime, here's what's happening with solvents.(PRINTING UPDATE)

While preparing to move to our new location a few years ago, I came across a box containing old Gardner-Holdt bubble tubes, as well as some old U-Tube viscometers. It made me wonder if some future generation of printers and ink technicians will come to view the pH meter as equally archaic.

One of the biggest hassles for a printer or converter when switching from solvent inks to water-based inks years ago was the whole issue of pH and viscosity control. The pH meters were never rugged enough for many press environments, and they required constant calibration. In addition, the probes would often break or become irreversibly fouled. All this assumes that someone ...

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