- Joined
- Jul 4, 2012
- Messages
- 2,832
- Points
- 63
I don't know. Frankly, I hate pots, and never use them, for pretty much this reason. My perspective (and I've held it for a long time) is that people should set the currents they need, and not rely on a crappy 40 cent component to control the current to their diodes. I have never liked the behavior of pots on drivers, with the possible exception of the $5 multi-turn pot I put on the 10A buck driver I sent ARG. That one behaved fairly well, and gave me the range I was expecting.
That said, I'm pretty sure the cheap single turn pots have ginormous +/- tolerances... maybe even as high as 10%?
EDIT: I was wrong about tolerance... lol... I wasn't ginermous enough. Turns out those single turn pots have +/- tolerances of 25% !
3303X-3-501E Bourns Inc. | 3303X-501ECT-ND | DigiKey
So I'm basically no help to you on this point, sorry Someone who uses the pot-version may be able to help. But I would suggest just ditching them and setting fixed current properly.
Agreed, these little pots suck. pots like these have always seemed to be quite nice anytime I have used them (not that exact one, but that style). Bit beefier, but of course more expensive- not to mention that trying to put one on a driver this small would be ridiculous
For now I will go with "The IC overheated," though it didn't feel at all hot when I was done reflowing it. I will try TLS's method of heating the IC from the underside of the board next, see if it yields different results.
This may be a complete n00b question (oh wait, yea, it is), but what is the formula for the set resistor? Shouldn't there be a reference voltage?
Edit: datasheet says .6V. Theres no reason it should be any different, is there?
Last edited: