How am I supposed to connect this potentiometer to the PCB?
Best Answer
I see five holes for connections to the pot.
There is one hole in the center of the pot drawing on the PCB - that hole is for the wiper of the pot, and should be connected to the center terminal of the pot.
The board has two holes for each end of the pot - probably the board designer had two different parts in mind when he laid out the board, and made provision to use either one. The two outer terminals on your pot connect to the two outer holes in the board.
The pot you have is meant to be mounted to a panel using the bushing around the shaft.
The correct term for the common terminal of a potentiometer is the slider.
A rheostat is simply a variable resistance used to control power to a load and you are correct about the wiring. Only the slider and one other terminal are used.
A potentiometer uses all three terminals, enabling a variable voltage or signal to be tapped off from the slider.
Potentiometers and rheostats are made the same way, but rheostats are usually much "beefier", as they are generally used in high-power situations.
The slider is often connected to one or other terminal for safety reasons, in case it loses contact with the track.
You'd use it just as you would an analog pot, with caveats.
The voltage on all the pins must remain within the supply voltages of the device or less. The datasheet would have specific details. The ICs usually have protection diodes which would clamp any voltage beyond the allowed range. If the situation persists, you can damage the IC.
The resistance when the IC is turned off is usually infinite. Youd have to power it up for the wiper (centre pin of a regular pot) to be connected.
When the device is powered up, it may not be in the condition it was it when it was powered down. If this is going to cause trouble, such as a low resistance path between V+ and ground, say, you should take precautions.
They usually can deal with much less current than an analog pot can. Be careful and follow ratings carefully. ICs are more expensive than analog pots, and sometimes harder to replace and/or debug.
Best Answer
I see five holes for connections to the pot.
There is one hole in the center of the pot drawing on the PCB - that hole is for the wiper of the pot, and should be connected to the center terminal of the pot.
The board has two holes for each end of the pot - probably the board designer had two different parts in mind when he laid out the board, and made provision to use either one. The two outer terminals on your pot connect to the two outer holes in the board.
The pot you have is meant to be mounted to a panel using the bushing around the shaft.