[Mike Betts]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Theoretically you could say that they have no limit on the amount of voltage, but as you increase the voltage, the time period for which they function decreases.

Sand,

Saying that the voltage has "no limit" is not true... Every solid state device has a maximum voltage. This voltage is extremely well known to the manufacturer and very exact. When you pass that voltage, the voltage potential breaks down the "gate" or "emitter" and the device will fail very rapidly (usually in microseconds).

While there is a small engineering margin an end user like us can expect in a product, it is typically less than 50%.

It is possible that IFI uses the same devices inside all of their products but unlikely. The volume of this kind of a product does not lend itself to that kind of scale of economy. In general, the semiconductor price goes up quite steeply as you increase voltage or current.

Last note to the engineers-in-training out there who take a Victor apart and find 40V or 60V devices in a 12V Victor: The design must accommodate the inductive kick of our motor circuits when the device switches. This kick is not trivial...

Mike