How to erase chip numbers from a chip?

What is the best way to remove the chip numbers/information from the
top of the chips on a PCB? (so that no one knows what chip was
used...).

ElderUberGeek wrote:
> What is the best way to remove the chip numbers/information from the
> top of the chips on a PCB? (so that no one knows what chip was
> used...).

file or potting. 

On 22 Feb 2006 08:43:36 -0800, the renowned "ElderUberGeek"
<aribloch@gmail.com> wrote:

>What is the best way to remove the chip numbers/information from the
>top of the chips on a PCB? (so that no one knows what chip was
>used...).

A belt sander will do it, but really, it's generally not a good idea.
It only advertises that you think your profit margin is too high, and
any engineer worth their salt can figure it out pretty quickly anyhow.


Best regards, 
Spehro Pefhany
-- 
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

On 22 Feb 2006 08:43:36 -0800, "ElderUberGeek" <aribloch@gmail.com> wrote:

>What is the best way to remove the chip numbers/information from the
>top of the chips on a PCB? (so that no one knows what chip was
>used...).

I wouldn't bother - makes your product look amateurish and won't take someone long to figure it out
anyway unless it's a really obscure chip, or used in  a particularly unusual way. 

On Wed, 22 Feb 2006 17:03:11 GMT in comp.arch.embedded, Mike Harrison
<mike@whitewing.co.uk> wrote:

>On 22 Feb 2006 08:43:36 -0800, "ElderUberGeek" <aribloch@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>What is the best way to remove the chip numbers/information from the
>>top of the chips on a PCB? (so that no one knows what chip was
>>used...).
>

Just slap a big ugly cheap paper "QC" label on the chip in question --
but stick it on with epoxy.

>I wouldn't bother - makes your product look amateurish and won't take someone long to figure it out
>anyway unless it's a really obscure chip, or used in  a particularly unusual way. 

You can never make your product completely secure.  What you can try
to do is make the cost of reverse-engineering high enough to make it
unprofitable.  Sometimes raising the bar a little -- making it
difficult rather than trivial -- is all it takes.

Regards,
                                        -=Dave

-- 
Change is inevitable, progress is not.

On 22 Feb 2006 08:43:36 -0800, "ElderUberGeek" <aribloch@gmail.com>
wrote:

>What is the best way to remove the chip numbers/information from the
>top of the chips on a PCB? (so that no one knows what chip was
>used...).

An "air eraser" does the trick. It's quite fast and easier than a file
or sander. You'll need to have good dust management in place, though.
http://www.bearair.com/prodinfo.asp?number=100072 for one source.

-- 
Rich Webb   Norfolk, VA

ElderUberGeek wrote:
> What is the best way to remove the chip numbers/information from the
> top of the chips on a PCB? (so that no one knows what chip was
> used...).

Bend all the pins over and solder it to the board upside down...

Then add a heatsink to some random bit of low power logic.