CircuitWorks Conductive Pens

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to use a conductive pen:

1. Expose conductive surface of repair area: When repairing a trace, conductive ink needs to have good contact with the beginning and end of the gap. This often involves scraping way resist to expose the conductive surface.
2. Prepare the surface: Clean and free from any debris, dust, or old solder. You can use isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs to clean the area properly.
3. Shake the pen: Before using the conductive pen, shake it vigorously until you hear the click of the internal bearing, which provides agitation within the pen. If the ink is dark and not a silver color, continue to shake the pen to fully mix the ink.
4. Prime the pen: When using the conductive pen for the first time or after a long period of non-use, you may need to prime the pen to get the ink flowing smoothly. Press the tip of the pen against a scrap surface (e.g., paper or a non-conductive material) until the ink starts flowing. You may need to clear the tip of dried ink with a wipe saturated with solvent like isopropyl alcohol (IPA).
5. Draw the conductive trace: Hold the conductive pen like a regular pen or marker, and apply gentle pressure to the surface while squeezing the barrel. Be precise and steady in your movements to get a clean line. You can draw lines, bridges, or connect components, just like you would with a pen or a pencil.
6. Cure the ink: Let the ink air dry for at least 1 hour.
7. Test the conductivity: Once the ink is cured, use a multimeter or continuity tester to test for continuity between the endpoints of the trace to ensure the connection is complete.
8. Clean the pen tip: After use, make sure to wipe the tip of the pen clean with a wipe. This prevents the tip from getting clogged and ensures better performance in the future.

Click here for an illustrated guide to using a conductive pen for PCB repair.

Conductive ink pens are specialized writing tools designed to draw circuits and create electrical connections on various surfaces. The ink used in these pens contains conductive materials (e.g. silver), which allow it to conduct electricity.

Here's what a conductive pen can do:

• Circuit Prototyping: Conductive pens are often used for rapid prototyping of electronic circuits. Instead of traditional methods like soldering, engineers can draw circuit traces directly onto a PCB using the conductive pen.
• Repairs: These pens are useful for repairing damaged or broken circuit traces on electronic devices or printed circuit boards (PCBs). By drawing a new conductive trace with the pen, one can restore the electrical connection without requiring complex rework.
• Low-voltage Electronics: Conductive pens are suitable for low-voltage applications, such as wearable electronics, simple sensors, touch-sensitive interfaces, and other electronic projects that don't involve high power or high-frequency signals.

You should be able to unclog by 1) removing the cap, 2) let it sit tip-down in a solvent like isopropyl alcohol, 3) press down (without squeezing the barrel) a few times in the process to break the stopper loose, 4) let sit 5-10 minutes, 5) then when you take it out, squeeze the barrel and try to write.

A trace drawn with the conductive ink will combine with solder, provided the soldering temperature does not exceed 350°F (177°C) and the solder joint is formed within 5 seconds. If the drawn trace must be soldered to, we recommended that tin/lead solder containing 2% silver be used and that the trace is heat-cured at 150°F (66°C) for five minutes to produce the most durable trace possible.

For optimal adhesion to most surfaces, clean the repair area prior to ink application. That insures the surface is free of oil, greases and handling soils. For precise cleaning just around the rework area, Chemtronics offers CircuitWorks Flux Remover Pens, which contain fast evaporating cleaning solvents. Chempad (#CP400) isopropyl alcohol (IPA) presaturated wipes and Chemswab (#CP25) IPA presaturated swabs are also well suited for surface prep.

If you experience difficulty in producing a smooth flow of conductive ink, this could indicate clogging of the product outflow channel within the tip assembly. As the pen sits in storage, especially if stored tip downward, the suspended silver particles will slowly settle and can clog the channel through which the product flows. To restore the pen to proper operation, it must be shaken vigorously, usually for two to three minutes. Shake the pen until you can hear the internal mixing bearing “clicking” or moving within the pen barrel. Once you have established movement of the mixing bearing, continue to shake the pen for another minute or so to completely re-suspend the silver particles within the polymer matrix, which will produce a smooth, homogenous product. If shaking the pen does not free the mixing bearing (you cannot hear it moving within the pen barrel) or the ink still refuses to flow when the pen tip is retracted, then the clogging within the tip assembly is more serious and will require a more rigorous cleaning to re-establish proper operation. Remove the cap and with the pen tip pointing up, grip the white base of the tip assembly gently but firmly and turn it to the right (clockwise-because the tip assembly is “reverse-threaded”). Remove the tip assembly and drop in into a small container of Flux-Off Heavy Duty or another suitable solvent.  Let the tip soak for 30 minutes to one hour, with occasional shaking or swirling, to clear the internal spaces within the tip assembly. As dried polymer dissolves you may see a fine dust of silver collect on the bottom of the soaking container. While the tip is soaking you may want to cover the opening in the pen barrel with a piece of tape to minimize exposure of the conductive ink to air and moisture. Once the tip has been cleared of ink, remove it from the solvent and let it drain on a paper towel and stand in the air for 10 minutes to allow the cleaning solvent to evaporate. Check that the tip stopper moves freely and retracts into the assembly easily, then screw the tip assembly back onto the pen barrel. The pen should now perform properly. If not, repeat the soaking procedure until the tip has been cleared. If soaking the tip assembly does not get the pen flowing, then the pen is probably past its usable shelf-life and should be replaced. 

A common method of repairing a broken trace is to solder on a jumper, which is basically a wire bypass around the broken trace. This can be time-consuming and visually unappealing. Chemtronics offers CircuitWorks® Conductive Pens, which contain a highly conductive material like silver or nickel suspended in a liquid polymer. These pens allow you to literally redraw the trace.

The shelf life of a product can be found on either the technical data sheet (TDS), available on the product page, or by looking on the certificate on conformance (COC). The COC can be downloaded by going to https://www.chemtronics.com/coc. Once you have the shelf life, you will need to add it to the manufacture date for a use-by date. The manufacture date can be identified by the batch number. The batch code used on most of our products are manufacture dates in the Julian Date format. The format is YYDDD, where YY = year, DDD = day. For example, 19200 translates to the 200th day of 2019, or July 19, 2019. This webpage explains and provides charts to help interpret our batch numbers: https://www.chemtronics.com/batch-codes.