> >This happened to me once too. I used alligator clips to connect my
> >7805-on-a-perfboard regulator to my breadboard. One time, the clips
shorted
> >(5V-GND) and the PIC died. From then on, if I powered it up, it got REAL
hot.
> >The PIC obviously doesn't like it's rails tied together.
>
> Crowbarring the supply rails, by itself, isn't going to cause any
problems.
> However, if you have charged caps connected to I/O pins, those will
> discharge back through the protection diodes, and put the chip into SCR
> latchup, although the latchup should clear when the chip cools.

If I recall well Microchip specifically warns agains a caps directly on MCLR
(I think a ~100 ohms resistor is recommended).

Wouter van Ooijen

Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: http://www.voti.nl
Jal compiler for PIC uC's:  http://www.xs4all.nl/~wf/wouter/pic/jal

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics
(like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics