Potentiometers, Trimmers & Accessories

We offer potentiometers of the types described below, along with accessories and dials.

A Potentiometer is a three-terminal passive electronic component which acts as an adjustable voltage divider. It has a uniform resistance connected between two terminals, and a sliding contact connected to a third terminal. If a voltage is applied across the two resistance terminals, then the output voltage – as a proportion of the applied voltage – appearing at the third terminal can be varied by moving the sliding contact along the resistance.

A Digital Display Potentiometer allows users to set an accurate resistance value, by displaying this value digitally on the body of the device.

A Linear Motion Potentiometer is a type of position sensor. It can be used to measure displacement along a single axis.

Rotary Potentiometers are typically used in applications like radios or music centres. They control the voltage applied to the amplifier input, and therefore its audio volume.

Slide Potentiometers, often known as faders, are also used typically in audio applications – for example, frequency attenuation, volume adjustment, and other audio signal features.

A Trimmer Potentiometer, or Trimpot, is a small potentiometer used for adjustment, tuning and calibration in circuits. Trimpots are often mounted directly on to printed circuit boards, and typically adjusted using a screwdriver. Sometimes called presets, they are used to set up an electronic device after initial manufacture, and then during servicing – but are often not intended for use by, or accessible to, the device’s user.