Tim Kerby wrote: > > I have also had this problem on two 16c74 (not 74A) chips. > When new they took 10 mins to erase but now they take oner 1 hour. > Microchip claim it is the eraser and the uv bulbs at #20 each need to be > replaced every few hours. > Personally, I think they are passing off the blame but I have found a > solution. I have been using an industrial turbine to blast the eraser with > cool air while it erases, keeping the chips cool. I had noticed that the > chips were heating up and this gave me the idea. My erase time is now under > 30 mins with the same chips. Whatever it does it certainly helps - try a > hairdryer on cold setting, my turbine is only slightly more powerful. I > would be very interested to know how the devices erase - to heat generates > by the light or by light alone. > I built a UV eraser with a 6W Philips tube and have used it so many times on a 16c71 that the paint has started to fade. I have often wondered why people complain about the erase times for the windowed parts, but you have just answered that question. The light is housed in a polished aluminimum box and runs very cool. I have never had to wait longer than 2 minutes for a PIC to erase. -- Friendly Regards Tjaart van der Walt ______________________________________________________________ | Another sun-deprived R&D Engineer slaving away in a dungeon | |WASP International GSM vehicle tracking and datacomm solutions| |+27-(0)11-622-8686 | http://wasp.co.za | tjaart@wasp.co.za | |______________________________________________________________|