Digital BW, The Print

All this water and ammonia discussion has taken place without the 
context as to the kind of ink (especially the ink pH).  The ammonia 
makes the cleaning solution basic (high pH).  This works well with 
basic (high pH) inks.  If the inks are acid based, then **BIG 
TROUBLE** with water and ammonia cleaning solution.  

Inks like MIS FS and VM and the original PiezoBW inks are basic.  
Ammonia and water work well.  It's my understanding that some Lyson 
inks are acidic.  If you are not 100% sure, I suggest dripping a few 
drops of your ink into the cleaning solution to see if it disperses 
(good behavior) or clots (bad behavior).

Jeff Randall

Not to become too obtuse,

but I think the memories are about the rule

"add acids to water not water to acids"

This is about diluting concentrated acids like Nitric and Sulfuric.

J.Z.

The Ink Chemistry Refresher thread is new and was intended to warn 
folks about blindly using the 9 parts water to 1 part household 
ammonia (or Windex with Ammonia D) as a universal cleaning solution 
for all inks.  It works well for basic (high pH) inks NOT for acidic 
(low pH) inks.  

Jeff Randall

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., Jon Zax <lotus@i...> wrote:

> Not to become too obtuse,
> 
> but I think the memories are about the rule
> 
> "add acids to water not water to acids"
> 
> This is about diluting concentrated acids like Nitric and Sulfuric.
> 
> J.Z.