I have a novatechnik rotary sensor potentiometer SP2801 100 002 001.Th datasheet shows that it has a maximum electrical angle of 100 degree.But I saw that we can move the pot in any direction any number of times.Then what does this maximum angle mean and how to locate it if it is there(the datasheet mentions the 0 degree and 100 degree angle).
Electronic – Rotary Sensor Potentiometer SP280X series
potentiometerrotary
Related Solutions
I am surprised that you cannot find a rotary encoder good to one degree, but I do not know a whole lot about them. A 10 to 1 gear train can improve the resolution by a factor of 10. Or a stepper motor can be used as a rotary encoder with 360/(steps per rotation) accuracy. A 1.8 degree stepper is almost there.
Here is a LINK to a PDF data sheet. It decodes the entire part number and indicates that the "M" taper is linear.
Here is a picture of the same part number potentiometer except that it has the U (+/-10%) linear taper instead of the M (+/-20%) linear taper.
Best Answer
The electrical angle is independent of the pot's physical ability to turn. In other words, there are no physical stops.
Within the 100 degree operational range, it behaves like a regular pot - with the wiper traversing from the resistor terminal at one end of the "electrical" range to the terminal at the other end (100 degrees apart). When you go outside this range, the wiper would be open.
These pots are often used on the output shafts of gear-motors for position sensing, and a physical stop would break the pot if the motor ran outside of the 100 degree range.