Surface Tension Checkers - Senze-Instruments Benelux

Senze-Instruments BENELUX
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Process & Quality Control

Surface Tension Checkers

Coatings & Industry > Surface Tension
Surface Test Inks are primarily used to measure the  surface energy of non-porous materials such as plastics, metal and glass surfaces in dynes/cm ( mN/m ) prior to printing, coating or adhesion.
Predominantly used in the Corona Treatment  and Plasma Treatment processes of surface pre-treatment, promoting adhesion, to  determine the cleanliness and the surface energy of substrates in  the packaging sector, our Surface Test Inks can  additionally be utilised in industries such as automotive engineering, aviation engineering,  medical technology and electronics manufacturing.

Measuring surface tension

Surface tension is an essential point for adhesion in printing, sticking process on plastic, metallic, and generally all non porous materials.
The control test pens and inks allow an accurate and quick determination of surface tension in dyne/cm (mN/m).
Temperature correction : around – 1 dyne / + 10 ° C (regarding 20 °C ambiant)
Avoid the contact with eyes, and skin (toxic, dangerous).


The Accurate Test Ink Solutions Range from 28 to 71 Dynes/cm (mN/m):

Non-toxic ASTM D-2578 compatible test inks.

Green Eco ink 26-58 dynes/cm (every dyne level eg:26,27,28,29,30,31)  ref. 175-ECO-Test6 and
Red ink 59-71 dynes/cm (odd dyne levels only eg:59,61,63,65) ref. 175-ECO-Test4 : only non-toxic dyne inks available

Toxic ASTM D-2578 test inks,
Blue ink 38-58 dynes/cm (every dyne level eg: 38,39,40,41)

Inks are available in Pens (5 ml and 45 ml) and Bottles (50 ml and 100 ml)
Our Jumbo Test Pens use a 15mm nib that clearly displays test results, the nib can be changed if you suspect contamination from sources such high slip materials. Finally our Jumbo Test Pens use a valve system to prevent contamination of the dyne test ink.
Test pens are sold by box of 6 items (45 mL of ink in each pen).
The Test pens are designed with reservoir and released valves.  The test pens are available  prefilled  or empty.
These systems allow to use virgin ink on demand.

5 ml Test pens  are available in boxes of 10
38 dynes/cm Quick Check Pen 5ml  (dries to leave a permanent display of the test result)
The 38 dyne quick check pen is not suitable for low solvent resistant surfaces like PVC
Also available:
40, 42 and 44 dynes/cm Quick Check Pens in boxes of 10
(do not dry to leave a permanent test result, these pens are used as our normal dyne products)
Here are some useful tips for our surface tension test pens:

- The lifespan, if the pencils or flasks are frequently open, we recommend that you replace them regularly:
• Daily opening: 3 months storage.
• Weekly opening: 6 months storage.
• Monthly opening: 12 months storage.

- To avoid inaccurate reading of the dynes level, do not store the pencils test ink at a temperature above 20 ° C or below 10 ° C.

- Take care not to pollute the tip of the pen, for example, by applications too frequent on materials containing a lot of slip agents.
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