How robust are the Bourns 3362 pots?

[midwayfair]

These are a buck a piece, which has been keeping me from buying them for years. I actually like the 6mm Tayda round ones, which I think are pretty durable (not noticeably inferior to the Smallbear 6mm ones) even if they're not super easy to dial in (they're one of the few things I buy from Tayda), but they don't fit the holes in the library part. I know I could edit the library to either include extra pads (like BYOC does on some things) or to move the pads, but really ... I'd rather use a better trimpot if possible.

Tayda has a clone of the 3362 pots, but they are absolute trash. I have actually broken the pot mechanism just dialing it in with a screwdriver.

[Frag Magnet]

I use them all the time and have yet to have a single issue with them.

[RobA]

I have some of the clones and some of the Bourns 3362 trimmers. Directly comparing them, the Bourns do feel better to turn. The action feels smooth where to me the clones feel a bit gritty. So, I'd guess that they are somewhat better. But, I've used the clones from Tayda in a bunch of places and not had any durability issues. Also, even on the Bourns the rotational life is only spec'd at 200 cycles.

[Muadzin]

I haven't had a single issue with the Tayda 3362 pots so far. Now those 6mm round ones, I've had those fallen apart trying to dial it in.

Purely anecdotal evidence, so do with it as you will.

[chromesphere]

I have used the Bournes 3306 series trimpots before, they are cheap, probably comparable to taydas 6mm's but to be honest I found even the 3306's to have a nicer smoother turn then taydas.  Nothing wrong with the tayda 6mm's trimmers of course. infact I have one on a board I use for testing.  Still going after many 100's of turns.

[aion]

I use Tayda's 3362s all the time. I did have one issue once where the wiper must have been misaligned because it came off the track at fully CCW and broke the connection entirely - it was this way on a few of them that I bought at the same time, of the same value, but I haven't seen it since.

[gtr2]

Hmm...

I never had an issue with the 3362's from Tayda.  I pretty much only use them.  Its actually the only thing I would purchase from there anymore.

Josh

[culturejam]

I've used hundreds of the Tayda clones with no issues whatsoever. It's one of the main things I buy from them, along with 9mm and 16mm board-mount pots.

[jubal81]

I've not had mechanical problems with the Tayda trims, just some that were out of spec.


An alternative to the Bourns are the Vishay trim at Mouser. They seem just as good and are a bit cheaper:

EDIT: Removed the link. I've had some trims in my stash that are a weird footprint and looking at this again, I can't be 100% sure the Vishay aren't the offenders.

[Frank_NH]

I use the Bourns 3362 most of the time because they are more compact at about .25" square than the larger models which are 3/8" square.  Seem to work fine and you can get them cheap on Amazon.com.  I've also noticed that they are the only trimmers that will fit on most PCBs I've purchased e.g. the 1776 Britannia.

You can find some assortments on eBay as well, which cover a range of values.

[dadler]

I usually just pay the high cost for the real deal from Mouser, but this prevents me from stocking up in bulk like I do with most other parts. I just can't convince myself to buy anything from Tayda-I always, without fail, regret cheaping out on parts. There are no free lunches, no real deals. I think my time is worth much more to me than the perceived cost savings associated with buying inferior parts.

PPP has them for $0.95 http://www.pedalpartsplus.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=PPP&Category_Code=Trim but the selection is extremely limited.

I wish SB had them, but they seem to only carry the cermet trimmers with inline pins, requiring ugly pin bending or otherwise.

[rumbletone]

Has anyone tried these?  http://www.dipmicro.com/img/1/RV3386-103.jpg

[RobA]

Has anyone tried these?  http://www.dipmicro.com/img/1/RV3386-103.jpg

I haven't tried them, but they look suspiciously similar to the trimmers at Tayda. The Tayda trimmers are named Baoter and unless Bao means resistor in Mandarin...

[rumbletone]

Has anyone tried these?  http://www.dipmicro.com/img/1/RV3386-103.jpg

I haven't tried them, but they look suspiciously similar to the trimmers at Tayda. The Tayda trimmers are named Baoter and unless Bao means resistor in Mandarin...

Thanks. Pretty sure 'bao' means 'bun' in Chinese. I will refer to them as 'bun trimmers' from now on!