View Full Version : Covering up your exposed EPROM's
Vectorman0
10-02-2009, 01:36 PM
What does everyone else do to shield their EPROM windows from light? (other than storing them in enclosed boxes) I've seen many prototypes that lost the stickers over time or possibly were never covered. I persoanlly use black electrical tape, since that seems to be the only opaque sticky stuff that I ever have handy.
I also bring up this topic because I am pretty sure that a lot of the white paper stickers I see covering EPROM windows aren't opaque and still let some light through. The same goes for white electrical tape. However, the white stickers with metallic backing should be good.
jb143
10-02-2009, 01:51 PM
We always just used electrical tape in engineering school as well as high school electronics class. Keeping them away from UV is the main concern.
mrmark0673
10-02-2009, 02:18 PM
I always just use white stickers so that I can add a bit of info to them if I need to. I dump every game that comes through my hands, so I could always just erase and reprogram the chips if I had to.
EPROMs have a much longer shelf life than you'd think, I've only had 2 protos come through my hands that had corrupted data.
Sometimes I have to dump games chip by chip because they aren't working for one reason or another, so labeling white stickers on the EPROMs helps me keep track of what wen where:
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/mrmark0673/Kittys%20Catch%20Etc/100_1405.jpg
Hope this helps!
aaron7
10-02-2009, 05:04 PM
Just keep them out of the sun and out from under black lights. Regular light won't hurt them nor will indirect sunlight for the most part so don't worry about not being 100% opaque.
Kitsune Sniper
10-02-2009, 05:20 PM
What about X-Rays?
I'm sending my Rocketeer proto to MrMark, but US Customs forces me to stick everything through an X-Ray machine before allowing me to cross over to the US... I can -try- to explain why I don't want to stick this through an X-Ray machine but they'd probably send me to an interrogation or something. :(
aaron7
10-02-2009, 05:43 PM
Don't worry about it. X-Rays can erase them, yes, but only with high-temp baking after.
You can stamp the package DO NOT XRAY too.
Ryaan1234
10-02-2009, 06:08 PM
You can stamp the package DO NOT XRAY too. You can stamp that right under the phrase "DON'T WORRY, IT'S NOT A BOMB!!!".
(This reminds me that I need to have someone dump my Black Bass proto..... meh.)
Kitsune Sniper
10-02-2009, 06:30 PM
You can stamp that right under the phrase "DON'T WORRY, IT'S NOT A BOMB!!!".
(This reminds me that I need to have someone dump my Black Bass proto..... meh.)
Actually, can a postal worker verify that it's not a bomb, so he can stamp it "Do not X-Ray"?
Half-kidding. My local post office does verify that Media parcels are actually "qualified" (or whatever the clerk thinks is qualified).
mrmark0673
10-02-2009, 06:56 PM
You can stamp that right under the phrase "DON'T WORRY, IT'S NOT A BOMB!!!".
(This reminds me that I need to have someone dump my Black Bass proto..... meh.)
after I dump Sniper's cart, I'd gladly dump your black bass proto. Let me know if your interested by shooting me a PM.
Mr. Sniper, you've got a PM over on the NA boards ;)
What about X-Rays?
I'm sending my Rocketeer proto to MrMark, but US Customs forces me to stick everything through an X-Ray machine before allowing me to cross over to the US... I can -try- to explain why I don't want to stick this through an X-Ray machine but they'd probably send me to an interrogation or something. :(
Hmm, yeah I always worried about that sort of thing when sending protos to sellers in Europe. Dunno how their customs operate, but I always figured that if something would get scanned or what not, it would be my package with a prototype cart