EL-wire triac switching

Well, after some experiments using a small coil of EL-wire and a 12v inverter, i have found that the MAC97A8 T0-92 TRIACs that i bought are just not fit for purpose... They run for about 30 switches on/off then the gate just dies. Looks like the SMT triacs on the el escudo are more than man enough for the task, but the MAC97's are somehow unsuitable, can't see why as the spec seems about right...