|I have need for an UV eraser for windowed devices and wish to make my own.
|I read somewhere that the intense flash from xenon flashtubes has a high UV
|content.  Does anyone know how many flashes at how many joules per flash are
|required to erase a windowed device/eprom?  Is there any danger to the
|device if these are exceeded?

Bad things can happen to flash tubes if you put through too much
energy (either per flash or cumulative).  Most flash devices can
handle much more energy per surge at slower cyclic rates than at
higher ones.

|Old camera flash assemblies are easily converted for lower power levels and
|faster strobe conditions and offer an easy solution if combined with a timer
|or counter to limit the flash number.  This also takes the pain out of
|having to take my parts to work in order to erase them!

Most flash tubes are made of normal amorphic glass.  As a result,
little or none of the hard UV given off by the flash will escape.
If you're taking pictures of people this is a good thing.  If you
are trying to erase chips it's a bad thing.

Good mercury-based erasers can be produced cheaply and easily, and
don't have the problems you'll run into with Xenon flashes.

BTW, is it possible/practical/desirable to use mercury tubes as
"flashes"?  I know that on many series-ballast fixtures the light
will flash when it first comes on and the flashes can be brighter
than the normal light output.  Could a device that used inductive
kickback to repeatedly bash a flourescent tube produce a higher
average light output than one that runs continously?