I've noticed that some are having long erase times with their PICs. I've
always had great luck with the DATARASE II ultraviolet device eraser. One of
its strong suits is that the UV lamp sits very close to the quartz window of
the device which quickens the erasing process.

If you have the $39.99 DATARASE II ultraviolet device eraser, read on:

I have one of these nice units and performed mods on it several years ago.
I'm not sure how significant the first mod is, but it should help out.

Here's what I did:

1)  I opened up the unit and put an aluminum foil reflector behind the
UV lamp.  Before installing the reflector, I really smoothed out the
aluminum foil.  Make sure you use the shiny side as the reflector.
This mod should reflect more UV light towards the chips.

2)  The second mod involves tampering with the internal electronics to
increase the power output to the UV lamp. The only reason I performed this
mod was because the DATARASE II manual says that the UV lamp is operated at
half its rated wattage.  The wattage on the bulb is 4 watts, so they are only
running the lamp at 2 watts.  My idea was to push the lamp close to 4 watts,
but definitely not more. Remember, more wattage=more light and
*MORE* heat.

I did some before mods/after mods testing on some windowed PIC chips.

What I did was program all cells to "0"s.  This meant programming $000
or $0000 to all locations in the PIC16C55/57 and PIC16C71
respectively.  I have found that the mods *DRAMATICALLY* speed up
erasure time.

The 16C71 erasure time went from 180 seconds down to 75 seconds.

The 16C55 and 16C57 erasure times went from 90 seconds down to 45
seconds.

But remember, these times are the intervals until all cells reach
"1"s.  To ensure good erase margin, they should be left in a little
longer.

On a final safety note, don't expose your eyes to UV light; UV light
can damage the eyes!  I totally encapsulated the bulb in a box while I
was making voltage and current measurements.

Be careful, no mod is worth risking safety!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope this helps,

Ken Pergola