# Important: Dust Covers for 16mm Potentiometers!



## music6000

I believe this is mandatory for Dust covers on Pots under the PCB.
It is a on going Issue that should be standard practice in Builds.
This stops the PCB from shorting out on the metal back of the Pot :
They come standard with* Tayda *Alpha 16mm Pots.
*UPDATE: Alpha stopped supplying Tayda Pots with Dust Covers on some 16mm Potentiometers.
You need to Order the Dust Cover separately!
5 Cents each!*


----------



## JohnoDotCA

You can pick up boxes of 50 on Amazon as well.


----------



## moonlightpedalbuilds

Or just slap a piece of electrical tape under the pot and make sure your solders are not sharp and pointed


----------



## music6000

pedjok said:


> Or just slap a piece of electrical tape under the pot and make sure your solders are not sharp and pointed


*Slap*, That's Illegal in most Countries, I wouldn't do it!


----------



## Jbanks

Why is that illegal?


----------



## eaglehat

Jbanks said:


> Why is that illegal?


Exactly, bro. Exactly.


----------



## music6000

It's  Tongue In Cheek  ie SLAP, HIT, SMACK, WACK
Get It!


----------



## Kroars

eaglehat said:


> Exactly, bro. Exactly.


Ed Zachary


----------



## fig

🤦‍♂️


----------



## Mcknib

music6000 said:


> *Slap*, That's Illegal in most Countries, I wouldn't do it!


According to the voices in my head a good slapping didn't do me any harm when I was young

Anyway here's a wee trick picked up from electric druid

I've used fairly thick pieces of craft foam stick the pot legs through it then through the board and solder into place

But only if you can't get plastic pot covers.....Norman says!


----------



## manfesto

PSA I don’t know if this is new or just new to me but I just found out Tayda sells dust covers and they’re about half the price I get them anywhere else









						Dust Seal Cover For Potentiometer
					

Tayda Electronics - Get It Fast - Same Day Shipping




					www.taydaelectronics.com


----------



## knucklehead

I use a thin layer of silicone adhesive . . . . because I has it

🤪


----------



## zgrav

manfesto said:


> PSA I don’t know if this is new or just new to me but I just found out Tayda sells dust covers and they’re about half the price I get them anywhere else
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dust Seal Cover For Potentiometer
> 
> 
> Tayda Electronics - Get It Fast - Same Day Shipping
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.taydaelectronics.com


I just noticed those on Tayda's site as well, and added a few to my order for spares since they were 5 cents each.


----------



## Feral Feline

GPCB has 'em as well, Barry calls them "Pot Condoms".




Mcknib said:


> According to the voices in my head a good slapping didn't do me any harm when I was young
> 
> Anyway here's a wee trick picked up from electric druid
> 
> I've used fairly thick pieces of Kraft Cheese Slices stick the pot legs through it then through the board and solder into place
> 
> But only if you can't get plastic pot covers.....Norman says!
> 
> View attachment 10950



Kraft Single slices, so many uses, not just an edible beer-coaster!

You can also spread Kraft CheezeWhiz on to the backs of pots, make sure it is dry, that's when it turns into plastic.
I discovered that when I left a CheezeWhiz-laden open-faced sandwich out in the sun while working, came back late afternoon... plastic. You'd think it'd kind of put me off having CheezeWhiz after that, but it didn't.


I keep all the plastic tabs from milk cartons, nip off the ring and afix the tab with a dab of hot glue on the back of the pot...








I drink a LOT of milk.


----------



## music6000

Puts a different perspective on Milking a Circuit!!!


----------



## Feral Feline

I couldn't think of an udder way to put it better than you did, Music6000. 



PS, for perf/vero builds, the little plastic doll-house tables used in pizza delivery boxes to keep the box-lid from sagging and sticking to the top of the pizza, nip off the legs of those tables and you've got yet another short-prevention device. Double-sided sticky tape to the back of vero/perf or a free-floating PCB — if you're really brave and have already verofied your circuit works, you could hot-glue it again.






Keep a few with the legs on 'em and you can support your enclosure while spray-painting, when the "table" becomes too gooey or built up with too much paint, snip the legs off as mentioned above. 






The teensy table has just saved your pizza, helped paint your enclosure, saved your circuit from shorts — what else can it do? What can't it do?





Or other way round







I love pizza!

Reduce, re-use, recycle, build more pedals... a LOT more...


----------



## Plate of Shrimp

Marcus Aurelius once said:
_There are three kinds of things in the universe: things that can be dust covers, things that can't, and people who don't remember to use dust covers._


----------



## Coda

Plate of Shrimp said:


> Marcus Aurelius once said:
> _There are three kinds of things in the universe: things that can be dust covers, things that can't, and people who don't remember to use dust covers._


I thought it was Noam Chomsky?...


----------



## Gordo

I raw dog it.  Knock on wood, I can only recall getting hooped once by a pot back touching a poorly trimmed connection.

I don't know why I don't like using covers, there really is no downside...


----------



## Feral Feline

Going full commando, only for the brave...


----------



## music6000

I believe this is mandatory for Dust covers on Pots under the PCB.
It is a on going Issue that should be standard practice in Builds.
This stops the PCB from shorting out on the metal back of the Pot :
They come standard with* Tayda *Alpha 16mm Pots.
*UPDATE: Alpha stopped supplying Tayda Pots with Dust Covers on some 16mm Potentiometers.
You need to Order the Dust Cover separately!
5 Cents each!*


----------



## droneshotfpv

I've always been the guy that says Condoms removes all the feel.... Who needs condoms!
Also, all my pedals are infected, so now I use them religiously.. lol
I had the literal ONE time I didn't use a dust capped POT cause a short due to clearance issues when I built the UberDrive... I was like "seriously, the one time I didn't wrap it up?" haha


----------



## BurntFingers

100K OHM Logarithmic Taper Potentiometer PCB Mount Round Shaft Dia: 6mm
					

ALPHA - Get It Fast - Same Day Shipping




					www.taydaelectronics.com
				




Alpha no longer supply the dust covers as standard, it's now a component you need to order by itself. They're only 5c each but don't forget.


----------



## Feral Feline

Or use milk tabs hot glued on ...


That's seriously annoying though. All my Alphas have the covers, I'm used to that and now they want me to PAY? They should've continued including them for "free" and just upped the price of the pots overall to keep their bottom-line accountants (and me) happy-ish.


----------



## slacjs

Has anyone else found that not putting a cover on makes them turn much more smoothly? It's as if the cover creates a vacuum effect and they're much stiffer.


----------



## Deperduci

saying it turns in to a restrictive ring at times making it harder for use?anyways I do need to order another mountain of the things had stretch where all the pots got nowhere near the boards either all at the edge or enough that I just had to solder them not fully seated it made a decent gap that impacts from dropping didn't move the board.


----------



## PAGOON

moonlightpedalbuilds said:


> Or just slap a piece of electrical tape under the pot and make sure your solders are not sharp and pointed


I used alien tape before I stocked up on covers


----------

