miniature panel mount potentiometers? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: george graves
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 05:40:07 am
content: I'm looking for a miniature panel mount potentiometer. Something super tiny would be great.I'm looking to mount 4 of them side by side in a small location. All smallest I can find have bodies of about 10mm - and that's too big.Electrically, just a linear 10k pot would be fine. They are going to the on-board ADC of a AVR to make a simple user controls.Any help would be great!

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 05:50:17 am
content: Have you thought about the knobs for them? If you need something smaller than 10mm and it will be mounted hard up against others you may have issues getting the knobs to fit or issues actually moving them with your fingers.I bought a few small panel mount pots a while back when looking for something that would work for a project.I just had a look and found this one in the box of pots i tested, its body is 9.35mm x 7.7mm.This particular one has detents and the shaft is 3/16 so may not be ideal for you but they do make other versions. Digikey may not stock those one though.http://www.digikey.co.nz/product-search/en/potentiometers-variable-resistors/rotary-potentiometers-linear/262965?k=P081N

author: george graves
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 12:41:11 pm
content: Thanks for the parts suggestion.I might look into pots with different shaft lengths, and simply stagger them on a PCB to get the tight grouping I requite. Thought of that will at the grocer store - you got to love those "ah ha!" moments.In this case, they will only be adjusted once a month if that - so ergonomics isn't an issue. If need be I'd get some thing turned on a lathe to as far as knobs. (really low volume - 100's of units)Is there any other solution I'm not thinking of for tightly packed user interface for 4 analog adjustments? (with no other feedback such as an lcd)

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 12:49:29 pm
content: Quote from: george graves on August 30, 2013, 12:41:11 pmMaybe some sort of panel mount multi-turn trim pot. They're tiny and using a screwdriver doesnt matter too much if its something that's not changed often.

author: george graves
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 01:14:53 pm
content: Thanks PSi. You've been very helpful!But the end user is a consumer that doesn't know what a "pot" is - and they will want the ability to adjust it on the fly (not that why will - it's just a silly selling point)

author: JohnnyGringo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 01:31:15 pm
content: You might consider a dual-unit pot. 2 pots with an outer ring and inner stem. Then you'd only need 2 pieces to get the 4 pots.such as this item here ($2 plus change)http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/ALPS/RK09712200HA/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtC25l1F4XBUza7emsVrz946TZ8WgjdyZU%3d

author: eliocor
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 31, 2013, 12:47:53 am
content: you can use the following panel mount multiturn trimmers:Vishay 43 series (T601 model):http://www.vishay.com/docs/57026/43.pdfhttp://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/trimmer-resistivi/2770212/otherwise if you need one turn trimmers, you can use Vishay P8P series (P8PT model):http://www.vishay.com/docs/51019/p8p.pdfTo trim them you will need a screwdriver.

author: oPossum
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 31, 2013, 07:27:53 am
content: PCB mount trimmer with shaftFor example:http://www.piher-nacesa.com/pdf/11-PT6v03.pdfPage 3 http://www.piher-nacesa.com/pdf/12-PT10v03.pdfPage 4 Staggered with different shaft lengths for 7.5 mm spacing---6 mm panel mount pot with 2.4 mm shafthttp://www.bourns.com/data/global/pdfs/3360.pdf