Potentiometer: how do you feel them?

[Deepdark]

Hi

How do you like your pots! With a velvet like action, soft and smooth, just like, i.e. Bourns Pots. Or, do you like gritty action, harder feeling when turning them?

I tend to personnaly prefer the smooth one, but a lot of people I know found the action of them to feel cheap, they prefer gritty and harder action. Am I crazy ??  ??? hahaha

 

[leswatts]

Long ago I used to design pots for audio and other applications. Like most US made pots they had the gritty feel.
The japanese started using the smooth feel pots, and most customers preferred them. We followed suit and used the
Nye damping grease to also get the smooth feel.

Les
http://lmwattstechnology.com/

 

[Deepdark]

ahh good to know I used to enjoy a smooth feeling when turning knobs. I tried some time ago a API3124 and the pots were sooooo gritty and hard, this wasn't really what I was expecting hahaha

 

[fazer]

Was that because the API needed the pots service?  I have an API and they need cleaned and a grease or oil cleaner like (craig lab products) used to bring a smoother feel back.  Also the aluminum knobs can loosen and slide down against the console surface and create drag.  My console has AB mod pots which have to be pulled apart to get to the interior which is a pain .  They work well after serviced.  Other API's had open pots that just require a spray cleaner lubricator.  If  you use zero residue cleaner the pot has no lubrication left and will feel funky or scratcy like you experienced.  The special grease would be used on the shaft only to my knowledge to give it a weighted feel.'  At least for my AB pots.  For other pot types the grease might be on the pot resistive surface as well as the shaft. 

 

[leswatts]

We use the Nye damping grease on our microphone  rotary switches...they are o-ring sealed.

The stuff has another name in the industry...."snake snot".

Les

 

[Seeker]

They are pretty expensive, but the Vishay precision pots feel fantastic, I think...  very smooth, but tight enough that it feels easy to dial in an exact setting... I have some of these on my pico compressor.

 

[warpie]

They are pretty expensive, but the Vishay precision pots feel fantastic, I think...  very smooth, but tight enough that it feels easy to dial in an exact setting... I have some of these on my pico compressor.

These?
I've never used them. I might give them a go.

 

[ruffrecords]

The stuff has another name in the industry...."snake snot".

Les

Which is a whole lot less rude than the nick name the technicians at BAe had for rubber sleeving lubricant they used back in the 60s.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Seeker]

These?
I've never used them. I might give them a go.

Yep, those are the ones... to me they "feel expensive"... which is good cause they aren't cheap. 

 

[benb]

The problem with the 'greased/weighted feel' is the faster you try to turn it, the harder it is to turn. If the pot controls a performance parameter (on a guitar/synth/other musical instrument), then it needs to be easy and quick to move it through its full range. I've seen guitarists using the volume control for attack and release - have the volume all the way off, hit a note or chord, bring the volume up by sliding the pinkie up under it, and likewise turn it down fast. You can't do that with a heavily greased control.

In a similar vein, I remember radios with a tuning control with a flywheel on it.

 

[Seeker]

The problem with the 'greased/weighted feel' is the faster you try to turn it, the harder it is to turn. If the pot controls a performance parameter (on a guitar/synth/other musical instrument), then it needs to be easy and quick to move it through its full range. I've seen guitarists using the volume control for attack and release - have the volume all the way off, hit a note or chord, bring the volume up by sliding the pinkie up under it, and likewise turn it down fast. You can't do that with a heavily greased control.

In a similar vein, I remember radios with a tuning control with a flywheel on it.

I totally agree, the pots on my strat are very loose and perfect for that kind of playing...  though on an effect or rack unit I like the "weighted feel". 

 

[dmp]

Hi

How do you like your pots! With a velvet like action, soft and smooth, just like, i.e. Bourns Pots. Or, do you like gritty action, harder feeling when turning them?

I like the Bourns pots - but they come in standard torque (SRT) and high torque (HRT).  I've used both and depending on what you want from the gear you can chose one or the other.

 

[mattamatta]

While I didn't get to see it myself, I was told by some former coworkers that they had ordered a sample set of pots that were available in a whole range of graded grease viscosity that all felt different.  They said that they left it in their lab, and a year later they all felt exactly the same.

Perhaps the feel over time is something to be watched.

 

[madswitcher]

Which is a whole lot less rude than the nick name the technicians at BAe had for rubber sleeving lubricant they used back in the 60s.

Or the three-pronged tool use to put them on with. 

Mike

 

[benb]

While I didn't get to see it myself, I was told by some former coworkers that they had ordered a sample set of pots that were available in a whole range of graded grease viscosity that all felt different.  They said that they left it in their lab, and a year later they all felt exactly the same.

Perhaps the feel over time is something to be watched.

So which way did they change, to get harder to turn, or easier?

I would guess this can be different depending on whether the grease is petroleum based, silicone based, or whatever else.