IC Question

[mydementia]

Hi Guys.
I can't seem to find an LM386-4 (rated to 18V) and wonder what the failure mode is when running a 12V LM386 at 18V.  Will the IC fry or will it just run hot?  I'm not satisfied with the headroom on my 9V Ruby (to my 2x6x9 cabinet) and am looking for a remedy... 
Thanks.

Mike

[vanhansen]

Check with Steve at Smallbear Electronics.  I think he has some of the 18V rated ones.  My gut tells me that running 18V through a 12V chip will fry the chip.  And they don't smell like roses when they fry either.  (yes, I'm speaking from experience here. ) 

Depending on the manufacturer you may be able to get 12V through the LM386N or 1, whatever it is.  Whatever they have at Radio Shack, they'll handle 12V, with a additional heat to heatsink 'em.  I'd still put a small heatsink on an 18V chip when running it at capacity just to be safe.

Try your 9V Ruby through a 12" speaker or a couple of 'em.  I run mine through a 4x12 and it sounds massive.

[Sir H C]

You will probably blow it up unless it has overvoltage protection where it will just shut itself down and not work at all.

Usually the max tolerance for an IC is 50% over the rated voltage, but max means very short life it operated there.

[mydementia]

Thanks guys.
I learned long ago not to let the magic smoke out of ICs...

[Joecool85]

I run my little gem on 12volts with no problems and it was built with the lm386-1 from radioshack.  18volts, probably not going to be good.

On a side note, I didn't really noticed any difference between 9 volts and 12 volts on my gem.