#Industry News
Precautions for use of Contactless Potentiometers
Contactless potentiometers are the upgraded products of traditional resistive potentiometers. As a result of the use of different working principles, there are great improvement on life expectancy and great extension on the types of output signal.
Due to the different basic working principles, contactless potentiometers have their own unique requirements and precautions. In order to make full use of the advantages of contactless potentiometers, we summarize the precautions for using contactless potentiometers.
01 Wiring
Different from traditional resistance potentiometers, contactless potentiometers use the scheme of sensor electronic circuit, so contactless potentiometers have a specific power supply end (VCC), grounding end (GND) and output end (OUT). If the wiring error occurs, e.g. a misconnection between the supply and output terminals, these may cause a shock to the components of the output terminal to be damaged by impact, resulting in short circuit or open circuit, so that the product cannot work normally. It is therefore important to make sure that the wiring is correct before connecting the digital potentiometer to the circuit. We suggest that the ground terminal (GND) and the output terminal (OUT) are connected to the circuit first, and then the power supply (VCC) is connected to the product after confirming that there are no errors.
02 Voltage
The internal output of contactless potentiometer is achieved through electronic circuits. The electronic components in its circuit have a limited bearing capacity. Excessive voltages may render the product inoperable or even cause irreversible damage to the equipment.
Especially for 5V applied power supply, 0-5V output products, too high voltage will impact damage to the protective device of the product, resulting in a short circuit that cannot normal output. Even for products with a wide voltage supply, voltages outside our recommended range can still cause damage to circuit components and cause the product to be unable to output properly. Therefore, before using the product, please make sure that the system power supply voltage is consistent with the input voltage described in our product data sheet.
03 Disturbances
The non-contact principle used by contactless potentiometers will be affected by the electrical disturbances generated by the system environment. These disturbances may come from the instability of the power supply end or the coupling between cables, which may cause electrical shock to the product. These shocks, either continuous or intermittent, frequently occur at the power supply and output side of the product, causing damage to components near the shock end and preventing the product from working properly. Therefore, when using contactless potentiometers, please pay attention to the stability of the electrical environment used by the products. If they are used in complex electrical environment, it is recommended to choose products with enhanced protection solutions or with protection modules to ensure the stability of the product output.
04 Shock
Contactless potentiometers are precision components, which have a limited capacity to withstand loads. External impact shock may cause its mechanical structure deformation, such as rotating shaft bending, rotating shaft shrinkage, wiring terminal fracture, etc. And such mechanical structure deformation or even damage will make the product lose the ability to work normally. Accordingly, when using contactless potentiometers, please take precautions against letting the product be impacted by external shock, also not impose too large load directly to the product.
05 Solder
The interior of Contactless potentiometer is the sensor electronic circuit. If the product is soldered improperly, the internal components of the terminal part may not work normally. Therefore, when soldering the product, please follow the soldering requirements of the product (the temperature should not exceed 350℃, the time should not exceed 3 seconds) to avoid damage caused by improper soldering of the product.
If the above points cannot be guaranteed under actual working conditions, please inform us in advance. We can provide special solutions or offer you some suggestions on design to ensure the products can work normally. We have rich experience in the industry applications, and can provide you with customized solutions.
