How do I reverse pot directions?

[Guest]

I have just built myself a set of throttles. Unfortunately, I soldered the wires backwards on one of them, and now I get reverse-action with the left throttle in flight. Do I really have to re-solder the wires, or will FSUIPC allow me to reverse the direction?Ken

[rickalty 0]

I don't know about FSUIPC but FS2002 itself will let you reverse the axis of a controller. Go to "Axes" and there's a "reverse" check button. Having said that, though, a potentiometer is just a variable resistance. It shouldn't make any difference which way you connect the wires. The resistance between pin A and pin B is the same as the resistance between pin B and pin A, unless you have some sort of additional elecronics such as a diode or capacitor wired in series.Richard

[rickalty 0]

As a follow up to what I just said, I think what you probably did wasn't solder the wires on wrong, but physically mount the pot the wrong way round. If it's a slider, you have max resistance at the back instead of the front (or Vice-Versa depending on your throttle linkages) and if it's a rotary then your throttle is turning it the wrong way.Richard

[rickalty 0]

OK, to correct myself somewhat.... some pots have three connectors, not two, and on those, connecting A & B would have the opposite effect to connecting B & C. If that's the problem you don't want to swap the wires though,just move the one from A to C - the one connected to the "pointer" can stay where it is.Richard

[Guest]

Thanks a million. I wasn't looking forward to disassembling the whole thing and re-soldering my connections. It's easier to fix problems using a keyboard rather than a solder iron!Kenneth