How does a Digipot work?

A digital potentiometer (also known as digital resistor) has the same function as a normal potentiometer but instead of mechanical action it uses digital signals and switches. This is often done by making use of a resistor ladder, a string of small resistors in series.

How much current can a digital potentiometer handle?

A: When using a bipolar ±2.5 V digital potentiometer, the maximum digital supply is limited to VDD + 0.3 V or VLOGIC + 0.3 V.

Why do potentiometers fail?

Potentiometers fail for a variety of reasons but by far the most common failures occur at the sliding contact and specifically at the interface of electrical contact and track. These failures can be attributed to two main factors – foreign matter and vibration.

What is the wiper in potentiometer?

A potentiometer is also referred to as a variable resistor or pot. They have three terminals, where the one in the middle is known as the wiper, and the other two are known as ends. The wiper is a movable contact where resistance is measured with respect to it and either one of the end terminals.

What is the purpose of a digital potentiometer?

A digital potentiometer (also called a resistive digital-to-analog converter, or informally a digipot) is a digitally-controlled electronic component that mimics the analog functions of a potentiometer. It is often used for trimming and scaling analog signals by microcontrollers.

Why does a potentiometer have 3 terminals?

A potentiometer is a manually adjustable variable resistor with 3 terminals. Two of the terminals are connected to the opposite ends of a resistive element, and the third terminal connects to a sliding contact, called a wiper, moving over the resistive element.

What are the two types of variable resistors?

The different types of variable resistors include: Potentiometer. Rheostat. Thermistor.