Wirewound Potentiometer – Power Rated Variable Resistor

The requirement for variable resistance in electrical and electronic circuits has existed ever since electrical engineering has been around. From the early days of valve based radio and television, there has been a requirement for a variable resistance that has a power rating of several watts.

AW 3 watt wire wound potentiometer

The AW 3 watt wirewound potentiometer manufactured by Australian Resistors has been the ‘standard’ for wirewound potentiometers in Australia for over 50 years. It has also been extensively exported around the world due to its reputation for long term reliability and economic pricing. There is a strong distributor network for the AW potentiometer in Australia or they can be manufactured to order in a lead time of 2 to 3 weeks.

A recent application for the AW potentiometer has been in a garage door controller manufactured in Sydney. The customer needed a high reliability 2 watt rated potentiometer to adjust the maximum motor current (d.c.) supplied to the drive motor used to operate the garage door. The potentiometer was manufactured with a custom made shaft that was 38mm in length which was required to fit into the custom housing designed to enclose the door control circuitry.

Having a local manufacturer with the capability to customise wirewound potentiometers is extremely useful for manufacturers as they can obtain a component tailored to their electrical and mechanical needs. Contact Australian Resistors for further details.