it doesn't conduct when not in use though..... it's an open circuit until commanded on.

i get the feeling that there is a diode inside the quad driver that would conduct when the quad driver is used as a source rather than a sink.

i've "abused" the quad drivers on my 9396 on the bench.... i've given it up to 2 or maybe 2.5 amps of load to deal with for short periods of time, and they appear to have survived and function normally still.