Reaper AC176 Leakage

[Fingolfen]

So I'm getting ready to do a few War Scythe builds with the Cloven Hoof mod on the Hoof side...

Quick question - how much leakage is too much leakage for the AC176 on the Reaper side?

 

[Cybercow]

For most any Ge BJT, I would imagine any leakage greater than 300µA is too much. Others go by a 400µA or 500µA limit.

 

[Fingolfen]

The bad news, all of my AC176 are fairly high (I'm down to four) one in the 400µA range - the others 650-750µA...

The good news is I have some ex-Soviet germaniums a friend in Ukraine sent me that are smack in the right gain range, but they may have the opposite problem... leakage is showing near zero on many of them...

...does this circuit need a little leakage???

 

[Cybercow]

That is typical with Ge BJTs. The NPNs always seem to have a high gain and high leakage, while the PNPs tend to exhibit the opposite with low gains and low leakages.
Sometimes, high leakages are workable, depending on the circuit and what you are ultimately satisfied with..
The struggle is real.