16 Sep
2007
16 Sep
'07
9:08 p.m.
On Sep 16, 2007, at 10:02 AM, jim wrote:
This is very true. EPROMs store their bits in "floating gates",
which are conductive areas which are totally surrounded by an
insulating material. Exposure to UV light causes that insulating
material to become partially conductive, allowing the charge to drain
<snip>
And every eraser I've seen on a professional's bench had either
bare metal or a sheet of mylar on the floor.
I just got a Data IO 29B from a friend, so I asked the guys at
MC Howard where to get a good cheap eraser. Mel just said "Barber
Supply". He says for hobby work, the barbers' UV sterilizers work
great.
I'd watch that whatever the pins set on is conductive. I think you
can get some static effects if you don't have conductive materials
in the thing. I had one that was made in a black plastic bread
box, and it had conductive foam to park the parts in.
If you get a unit that isn't an eraser as suggested in other parts
of the thread that is all I'd watch. Make sure that the other
units have metal to set the parts on, since a barber shop
sterilizer may have glass or such, and not metal. from the floating gate...and that charge has to GO
somewhere.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
Farewell Ophelia, 9/22/1991 - 7/25/2007