3904 has VCBO=60V, VCEO=40V and VEBO=6V. For a typical design, there cannot be any voltage higher than these limiting values of the transistor. If the problem is really on the transistor itself, I guess the quality of the 3904 you used is not good. Is your 3904 transistor from good brand names (e.g. NXP, On-semi, ...)?