Common potentiometer wiring.
Common wiring for a three terminal pot, plus minus voltage.#1
In this example the potentiometer is a three terminal potentiometer single or multi-turn. The supply power is +5 VDC and -5 VDC. Typically for a .5 watt potentiometer the maximum current is 10 milliamps and for a 2 watt pot 50 milliamps. Terminal 1 is plus 5 volts, terminal 2 is minus 5 watts. At half of the wiper travel the voltage will be 0.
Common wiring for a three terminal pot, plus minus voltage.#2
In this example the potentiometer is a three terminal potentiometer single or multi-turn. The supply power is +5 VDC and -5 VDC. Typically for a .5 watt potentiometer the maximum current is 10 milliamps. Terminal 1 is minus 5 volts, terminal 2 is plus 5 watts. The wiper is jumpered to terminal three. The plus voltage would increase as the wiper moves from terminal 1 to terminal 3.
Common wiring for a four terminal pot, plus minus voltage.#3
In this example the potentiometer is a center tapped terminal potentiometer single or multi-turn. The supply power is +5 VDC and -5 VDC. Typically for a .5 watt potentiometer the maximum current is 10 milliamps. Terminal 1 is minus 5 volts, terminal 2 is plus 5 watts. The wiper is jumpered to terminal three. The plus voltage would increase as the wiper moves from terminal 1 to terminal 3
Note: Shielded cable is recommended for all wires.