Trimpot^® Trimming Potentiometers

The Trimming Potentiometer Standard Setter

As the established trimmer device industry standard, Bourns® Trimpot® trimming potentiometers have been helping engineers fine-tune their designs for decades. Used to perform a variety of precision adjustments in all types of electronic equipment, we offer a broad line of multiturn, single-turn and military-qualified potentiometers.

The wide range of resistive options, from 10 ohms to 2 megaohms, offered in Bourns® resistive potentiometers means designers get maximum flexibility to select the right Trimpot® product for their application.

Bourns® Trimpot® devices are not just for analog applications – they are an important design tool in helping to adjust, regulate, and control circuit drift of digital elements. Trimmers can enhance an application's functionality by ensuring it is calibrated as precisely as possible. Using a trimmer to fine-tune a circuit's output is an ideal example of how analog technology is still needed in digital design.

What is a Potentiometer?

A potentiometer is a manually adjustable, variable resistor that has three terminals. Two terminals are connected to a resistive element and the third terminal is connected to an adjustable wiper. The position of the wiper determines the output voltage or current.

The Most Common Uses Are:
Adjustment potentiometers can be used as a rheostat to control current, or as a voltage divider for regulating voltage.

More than half of all trimmers are used in rheostat mode where there is no basic input- output relationship, except as defined by the associated circuitry in which the trimmer is being used. Rheostat mode allows the trimmer to increase the flow of current in a circuit, or "trim" the flow for an optimal circuit.

When employed as a voltage divider, a trimmer is most commonly used as a control device. Control devices are beneficial for applications that require convenient or frequent manual adjustment. Many of these applications involve man-machine interfaces including controls for audio/visual equipment, sensors, and lighting systems. In the voltage divider mode, the trimmer adjusts voltages as needed, providing an output voltage that is a fractional value of some input voltage.

How Often Does a Potentiometer Need to Be Adjusted?

Designers employ trimming potentiometers in pre-calibrated electronics applications for subsequent adjustments in response to component variations. An example of where potentiometers are used for recalibration include power supplies. These instruments require accurate output voltage adjustments, ensuring consistent delivery of voltage levels and to provide a minimal load at the output. Trimmers can also be used in "set and forget" applications where technicians make final adjustments before a product is shipped to the end customer.

Almost Every Electronic Market Application Can Benefit from a Resistive Potentiometer

The list of applications that can be improved by a resistive potentiometer is virtually limitless—communications, signal processing, image processing, and audio processing are just a few of the technologies that utilize digital and analog inputs/outputs to interact with real-world phenomenons. Other examples of Bourns® Trimpot® components used in industry are automotive, transportation, amplifiers, timers/oscillators, consumer electronics, musical instruments, professional audio and lighting controls, optical sensors, pressure sensors, liquid temperature sensors, printers, battery management, military products, gaming devices, scanners, and factory automation.