Personally, I wouldn't rely on the "internal effect" for any type of
protection. Remember, you are not just dealing with the normal voltage
swings. You could have noise, spikes, and other transients on the input
line that can and will damage the junction of the transistor.
Rick

Omega Software wrote:

> Thank you all for your replies.
>
> One last question, if you don't mind: if the max base current is
> no more than 1 mA, can I safely use the base-emitter zener effect
> without causing damage? Or even that little 1 mA is going to slowly
> destroy the transistor anyway?
>
> Thanks!
> Andrea
>
> --

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