Actually, yes, they can and do work (sort of) with the
collector and emitter reversed.  The difference you
will find is that the "upside-down" connection has
much less forward current gain, sometimes as low as
unity.

In your circuit, I would expect the LED to be just
a little dimmer with the transistor connected this
way; you may need to look closely to see any difference.

Brian Aase

> The wierdest part is that the 2N2222's I have work in either direction, that
> is, with that LED circuit I posted.  That only adds to the confusion.  So I
> guess from now on, I'll just order my transistors from Digikey and go by the
> datasheet of the specific model.
>
> Is it normal for a transistor to "work" in either direction?  My assumption
> is that they CAN be reversed (C & E) but are supposed to be used in a
> specific direction.
>
> Thanks for the clarification guys.  Peace
>
> MJ Brush

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