After a slight purchasing mishap, I am to end up with an encoder whose max RPM is too low for the application for which it is to be used. To achieve roughly the same purpose (that is, sensing of an angle) with a lower budget, we are now looking to use a potentiometer. Just to make sure that we don't make the same mistake again, is there a maximum speed which potentiometers can generally be turned? Say, something faster than the 60 RPM max we found out about on the purchased parts? I've looked through the data sheets for a couple different potentiometers, but I can't seem to find anything (though I suppose that makes sense since these potentiometers are fixed rotation).
Any advice is appreciated.
Best Answer
What you need is typically called a "servo mount" potentiometer, that is - designed to be mounted to and turned by a motor (as part of a servo loop) rather than by a human (e.g. the typical bushing mount). Sometimes they are found under slightly different terms as well, Vishay refers to them as "Precision Rotative Transducers" in this datasheet. The maximum rotation speed is specified as 600 RPM on the "ES" model (ball bearing, servo mount). Specified life is 30 million cycles.