> A quick glance doesn't reveal guaranteed max OPERATING Iout
> and the pathetic
> 3 mA / Vdd-0.7 V for Vout high is so far away from the 25 mA
> max damage
> limit that it may indeed be possible to short the high output
> pin to ground
> and STILL not exceed the damage spec. There is no apparent guaranteed
> operating output current spec apart from the wimpy one above.

But there is also no guaranteed upper limit on the current, so without
external current limit you will be outside the specs. This of course
does not guarantee that there will be any trouble, it is just that:
outside the specs. Just like overclocking, current through the
protection diodes, and numerous other abuses which you must avoid for a
guaranteed working design, or might apply as a design optimisation at
the expense of some (unspecified amount of) uncertainty.

Wouter van Ooijen

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Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl
consultancy, development, PICmicro products

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