EPROM Erasers?

My main eraser is a very simple device that I had quite a long time (late 70's or early 80's iirc) - it is a model "U/V 1" made by "L S Engineering Inc." of Chatsworth, CA. It looks almost homemade - it's basically a plastic utility box with a loose fitting lid. The UV tube and ballast are mounted in the box with a switch on the side. To use it, you put the lid on the table, position your IC's in it so the windows are in a row down the middle (It's a good sized box, you can erase 15-20 EPROMS at once, then put the box on top and turn on the light. At one point I added a timer from a dryer because I had a habit of forgetting about it (fortunately, there's lots of spare room in the box). Anyhow - there's nothing conductive about this thing. It's all plastic. I tested the lid with a gigaohm range meter and it's not aven slightly conductive. I've erased LOTS of devices in it, and never had a failure that couldn't be accounted for (ie: because I left it on overnight). I don't think it's necessary to use a conductive surface - Given that most devices being erased are used - ie: have been inserted and removed multiple times, it is highly unlikely that all the pins would contact a flat conductive surface. Same for a slotted holder - unlikely that all pins would be connected. Also, none of the data sheets I've seen on programming mention connecting the pins together. Can anyone provide a reference? Regards, Dave I have another portable eraser which is a much smaller but similar design by "Ultra-Violet Products Inc." of San-Gabriel, CA. It's only big enough to do 2-3 devices. This one does have a strip of conductive foam in the bottom the the "lid". My suspicion is that this is mainly there as a way to secure the chips in position so you can leave them in it when you move it. -- dave06a (at) Dave Dunfield dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com com Collector of vintage computing equipment: http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/index.html