> Stick with the Datasheet is best, of course. I'm going to check this
> as part of the debugging prototype part...

Dario, I'll tell you how bad it can be. The project that really opened
my eyes was an 877-based cine-camera stepper. It's basically a timer
for time-lapse photography. There are relays to supply current to the
shutter and film advance solenoids

The first indication of a problem was that the LCD display would go
loopy when one particular relay operated. I found that the wiring and
position of the relay was disturbing the PIC when it de-energised, so
the circuit was re-configured to stop that. In doing so however it now
affected the ADC pin used for a switch + resistors to set the interval
multiplier. This now became unreliable and unpredictable. After only
a few operations the PIC suddenly started sucking the life out of the
battery and a pinhole was blown through the PIC. I believe the
mechanism is that a comparatively hefty SCR is formed

I've also had this happen with a 6522 CIA, which actually cracked
the chip in half. You'd think the die would just fail quietly, after all 
it's
just a logic device, but occassionally enough heat is generated to do
actual physical damage 

-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist