Help with potentiometer

[Thalan the Exiled]

I am trying to find 3 super small potentiometers. I just don't know what to look for. I found a bunch on ebay but have no clue how to know which one will work for my led. I have a tri reb RGB. I want to be able to adjust each led to gwt the color I want. If anyone has a link to some please message me the link sincs I don't think cou can post it. I am tired of searching with no idea what exactly I need to look for. PLEASE HELP.

[Grimlock84]

Are you planning to leave the potentiometers in the hilt?

If so it's not advised to do so. You would want to get the color of your liking and then ohm out the potentiometer and use its value to select the appropriate resistor.

[Thalan the Exiled]

I really want something I can leave connected but if there isn't anything that would be safe to do that with then I will have to go a different route I guess. I have my led set up now with 3 jst connectors(1 for each die with resistor for max power) and a Y split comming from the battery/switch. This way I can run 1 or any combo of 2 of the di and get 6 different colors. Problem is when I run the red with combined with the other I get a blue with a bit of lhrple and a green with a bit of yellow. I want to be able to adjust the blue/green down but only when I run them with the red. When they are by themselves or g/b mix I want them full power. Is there a way to do this. If not I guess I will live with what I got till I can afford a prisim soundboard. Also does anyone know of a 6 position rotary switch that is small enough to fit inside the hilt with a shaft that would stick out a hole if I drilled one. If I am stuck with my current setup I would love to be able to switch colors with out having to remove the emmitor. And a rotary switch would be nice to have mounted near the ignitor switch . Any thoughts or ideas would be helpful.

[Silver Serpent]

The biggest issue with a potentiometer is the fact that it can "walk" over time. Impacts from saber hits can cause the pot to drift up or down. If it drifts down to zero, you run the risk of blowing your LED. Now if you were to have a standard resistor in line that kept your LED from blowing, you could also add in a pot for fine-tuning. It can still drift, but won't pop the LED if it goes down too low.

[Thalan the Exiled]

So put the resistor before or after the pot?

[Taki117]

So put the resistor before or after the pot?

NO! Use the Potentiometer to find the resistor value you need for the proper color, make a note of these on a piece of paper, then remove the potentiometer and replace it with a resistor of the proper value.

[Thalan the Exiled]

The biggest issue with a potentiometer is the fact that it can "walk" over time. Impacts from saber hits can cause the pot to drift up or down. If it drifts down to zero, you run the risk of blowing your LED. Now if you were to have a standard resistor in line that kept your LED from blowing, you could also add in a pot for fine-tuning. It can still drift, but won't pop the LED if it goes down too low.

This person said to use a resistor with the pot. I want to know if this works where do I put it befor or after

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Normally, pots are used to get a resistor value, and then are switched out FOR the resistor. As SS said, pots can drift, which could cause you issues.

[Thalan the Exiled]

Thanks FJK. does anyone know of a 6 position rotary switch that is small enough to fit inside the hilt with a shaft that would stick out a hole if I drilled one. Since I am stuck with my current setup I would love to be able to switch colors with out having to remove the emmitor. And a rotary switch would be nice to have mounted near the ignitor switch . Any thoughts or ideas would be helpful.
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[Silver Serpent]

Yeah, ideally you will replace the pot with a standard resistor. My advice about the resistor AND pot was only if you wanted to be able to constantly adjust individual colors without popping the LED. You'd never use that setup with a soundboard using an LED driver.

There are a couple of big electronics suppliers online that have a ton of switches. A little Google-fu should help you find them. Finding the right switch might take a bit of time though.