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what voltage will most motorized potentiometers run at?

M

Michael

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi - I pulled a motorized potentiometer from a stereo reciever. Quite the
cool little part (ok not little - IIRC it has 14 leads coming from it - and
is like 4 inches long) Anyways - I was hoping to figure out how to drive
it. The reciever was already dead when I recieved it - and it was not very
obvious to me what voltage it was being driven with when looking at the
circuit that drove it. It's made by Alp - but I couldnt' find it on their
website. I'd like not to kill it. So - what do you think it runs off of? It
seemed to be a simple DC motor - only had two leads coming off of the motor
part. Thanks!

Michael
 
K

Ken Taylor

Jan 1, 1970
0
Michael said:
Hi - I pulled a motorized potentiometer from a stereo reciever. Quite the
cool little part (ok not little - IIRC it has 14 leads coming from it - and
is like 4 inches long) Anyways - I was hoping to figure out how to drive
it. The reciever was already dead when I recieved it - and it was not very
obvious to me what voltage it was being driven with when looking at the
circuit that drove it. It's made by Alp - but I couldnt' find it on their
website. I'd like not to kill it. So - what do you think it runs off of? It
seemed to be a simple DC motor - only had two leads coming off of the motor
part. Thanks!

Michael

With two leads off the motorized part and fourteen leads (total?) I'd say it
is a motorized switch - check to see if there's continuity between two
contacts. That should change as you step around. It probably steps when you
pulse the two 'motor' leads, I'd hazard the guess that the pulse polarity is
reversed to step it in the other direction.

Cheers.

Ken
 
K

Ken Taylor

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ken Taylor said:
With two leads off the motorized part and fourteen leads (total?) I'd say it
is a motorized switch - check to see if there's continuity between two
contacts. That should change as you step around. It probably steps when you
pulse the two 'motor' leads, I'd hazard the guess that the pulse polarity is
reversed to step it in the other direction.

Cheers.

Ken
Oh, and I'd start with 5V, and after than 12V, unless you can find
otherwise.

Ken
 
M

Michael

Jan 1, 1970
0
With two leads off the motorized part and fourteen leads (total?) I'd
say it is a motorized switch - check to see if there's continuity
between two contacts. That should change as you step around. It
probably steps when you pulse the two 'motor' leads, I'd hazard the
guess that the pulse polarity is reversed to step it in the other
direction.

Cheers.

Ken

IIRC - it had 4 50K potentiometers (three leads each), and then those last
two leads that I assumed controlled the motor - esepcially since they were
attached to a motor-like thing that was attached to a gearbox.

Michael
 
M

Michael

Jan 1, 1970
0
With two leads off the motorized part and fourteen leads (total?) I'd
say it is a motorized switch - check to see if there's continuity
between two contacts. That should change as you step around. It
probably steps when you pulse the two 'motor' leads, I'd hazard the
guess that the pulse polarity is reversed to step it in the other
direction.

Cheers.

Ken


Also - forgot to mention that I verified that they were pots by connecting
my multimeter to a center lead and one on it's side - and by turning the
knob the resistance would change.
 
W

Walter Harley

Jan 1, 1970
0
Michael said:
Hi - I pulled a motorized potentiometer from a stereo reciever. Quite the
cool little part (ok not little - IIRC it has 14 leads coming from it - and
is like 4 inches long) Anyways - I was hoping to figure out how to drive
it. The reciever was already dead when I recieved it - and it was not very
obvious to me what voltage it was being driven with when looking at the
circuit that drove it. It's made by Alp - but I couldnt' find it on their
website. I'd like not to kill it. So - what do you think it runs off of? It
seemed to be a simple DC motor - only had two leads coming off of the motor
part. Thanks!

Check on http://www.mouser.com or http://www.digikey.com - they sell
motorized pots, including I think Alps, and you might be able to find
datasheets on their web pages. Won't necessarily be the same part, but good
enough to give you a hint.
 
L

Luhan Monat

Jan 1, 1970
0
Michael said:
Hi - I pulled a motorized potentiometer from a stereo reciever. Quite the
cool little part (ok not little - IIRC it has 14 leads coming from it - and
is like 4 inches long) Anyways - I was hoping to figure out how to drive
it. The reciever was already dead when I recieved it - and it was not very
obvious to me what voltage it was being driven with when looking at the
circuit that drove it. It's made by Alp - but I couldnt' find it on their
website. I'd like not to kill it. So - what do you think it runs off of? It
seemed to be a simple DC motor - only had two leads coming off of the motor
part. Thanks!

Michael
Yo, this is what bench supplies are good for. Start with zero volts and
a 200 ma current limit. Turn up the voltage and watch the current.
Lacking this, put an automotive tail light in series with the motor
leads, in case something is terribly wrong, all you get is a lit tail light.
 
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