Some warnings concerning the Lorentz-Dirac equation

Different ways conducting to the Lorentz-Dirac equation are revised and some physical implications of it are examined. Attention is paid to the conditions justifying the correct manipulation of Maxwell equations in the problems connected with elementary charges. It follows that Lienard-Wiechert formulae can only be safely applied for quasi uniform motion of the charges. Hence the Lorentz-Dirac equation is only valid when the acceleration to which the charge is subjected is very small. A new equation is proposed that automatically preserves energy conservation and does not imply runaways. The electron is considered to be a variable-mass system and the new formulae obtained are valid only for quasi-stationary motion. Therefore, any really significant modification of it must include a generalization of it for any vlue of the acceleration