Fritzing Standard Small pot part

parts help
1

I wanted to record this here since it makes quite a difference when making pcbs. The current ‘small pot’ part, which one might use for Alpha RK09 or generic RV09 pots (6mm shafts), does not have dimension that matches ANY of my small pots.

Here, the old small, the new small and at the bottom, an Alpha template from @NoodleDriver

three-pots_pcb
three-pots_pcb900×668 98.6 KB

This last part has the correct dimensions. You have to hide silkscreen for production, being one flaw.

https://forum.fritzing.org/uploads/short-url/6a2f4CfKka8dUvtqKhHPwzBV97j.fzpz

This latter part from @NoodleDriver is also easier to solder since it has square pads. I can see keeping pads minimal for some purposes, but the small round solder pads can really be a pain if one isn’t going EINIG. This is especially a pain with some switches (push button) where it is not unlikely that you ruin a switch in trying to solder against tiny surface areas.

EDIT: one advantage of the native small footprints is that the support feet are a bit further apart which is more relevant for RV09 pots than for RK alphas.

2

Some technical specs:

I usually use RV09 but these also come up and fit better in the alpha footprint;

The most common alphas, unlike the RV09/R0904 have a threaded shaft for mounting: https://www.thonk.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Documents/alpha/9mm/Alpha%209mm%20Vertical%20-%20Audio%20Taper%20A1K-A500K.pdf

A collection Index of /wp-content/uploads/Documents/alpha/9mm

This is just vertical versions.

EDIT. I’ve been trying to edit the core thing. Nigh on impossible to properly export. Trying to find the spec from the included url https://tech.alpsalpine.com/prod/e/pdf/potentiometer/rotarypotentiometers/rk09l/rk09l.pdf is not possible since that is not publicly accessible. Maybe RK09L1140A5L Product information | RK09L Series | Rotary Potentiometer (Metal shaft type) | Potentiometers | Products Search | Products & Technologies | Alps Alpine

EDIT 2: The alps and alphas have a body that is 11.35 mm x 9.5 mm and are for all intents and purposes identical. The R0904N and RV09 types are a tad smaller, but fit perfectly ‘within’ that footprint.

3

I guess my first question is what are you trying to achieve here? Just parts for yourself or a modification of core parts? From discussions at the time I did the pot schematic changes, I doubt that there will be much support for a change in core parts due to backward compatibility issues, so if that is your aim I would start with opening an issue on github to see what the developers take on things is. Most of the pot parts are very old and not documented. There usually wasn’t any indication what the original part was supposed to match and what they did match may be discontinued by now!)

Best way to export core parts is copy the fzp and associated svg files to a directory, change them from repository format to fzpz format (part. in front of the fzp file, svg.viewname. in front of each svg.) The pots all have special moduleIds which the export process loses so the exported part won’t work as expected. Editing the fzp file in core parts will tell you which svg files you need to copy.

Peter

1 Like
4

I am obviously trying to affect a change in core parts. Since I started as a novice and used that part in many places I’m hoping to spare other people the surprises. Since the reference (the url in the small pot part points at an RK09L) provided in the core part is not of the same dimensions, this is a bug. I guess I could file a bug report.

In any case, I did find a way with your and other’s help to do fast swaps so it’s not an issue for me. But for new users.

Ok, I’ll try this when i find some time.
Thank you!