On Monday, October 03, 2011 6:17 AM, "PICdude" wrote: > Here's what's confusing me... I tend to think of the wattage rating as =20 > the ability (or rate) of the device to dissipate heat (given it's =20 > package size, surface area, materials, etc), which is why I imagine =20 > higher wattage being no problem as long as the heat is being sucked =20 > away. For your situation and anyone else who has had power resistors =20 > fail, were they within specified max operating temp (but higher than =20 > rated wattage)? Or did the temps go over the specified max operating =20 > temp? They were part of a de-icer, clamped and glued to a metal plate, and shut off when they reached a little over room temperature. So they never got very hot(externally). Bob --=20 http://www.fastmail.fm - One of many happy users: http://www.fastmail.fm/docs/quotes.html --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .