MALVERN, Pa. — April 17, 2020 — Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. today announced that its Vishay Sfernice division is offering alternative parts for industrial potentiometers that Honeywell International Inc. issued a product obsolescence notice for on August 5, 2019.
Panel potentiometers are variable resistors that are mounted behind the front panel in a variety of equipment. They frequently feature buttons mounted on their shafts for applications such as setting the brightness of a screen or the speed of a tooling machine. Typical end products include off-road tractors, excavators, and cranes; avionic overhead panels; syringe pumps; and wide range industrial equipment.
While most potentiometers are delivered as custom solutions by both Vishay and Honeywell, Vishay offers close alternatives to the obsoleted devices. The table below shows affected Honeywell, formerly Clarostat product families, their corresponding Vishay potentiometers, and comments about potential differences between the two.
Alternative devices from Vishay include the P11S and P11A 12.55 mm modular panel potentiometers with cermet and conductive plastic resistive elements which are nearly full equivalents to the Honeywell 309 / 409 / 591 and 308 / 408 / 509 series respectively. The PRV4 industrial potentiometer; the fully sealed PRV6; and the heavy duty RV4L are options to be evaluated as alternatives to the RV4 / 385 / 53C / 485, the 392 / RV6, and the 380 series, respectively.
Cross-Reference Table:
| Honeywell series | Vishay alternative | Comments |
| RV4 / 385 / 53C / 485 | PRV4 | The PRV4 is smaller in diameter (19.6 mm) and has a rear rather than side pinout and a cermet track instead of conductive plastic. There are some deviations, please review the datasheet |
| 380 | RV4L | The RV4L is smaller in diameter (19.6 mm) and has a rear rather than side pinout and a cermet track instead of conductive plastic. There are some deviations, please review the datasheet |
| 308 / 408 / 590 | P11A | The P11 with a conductive plastic track is nearly fully equivalent |
| 392 / RV6 | PRV6 | The PRV6A and PRV6C are nearly fully equivalent |
| 309 / 409 / 591 | P11S | The P11 with a cermet track is nearly fully equivalent |
| 585 | P9 | The 585 has a carbon track, while the P9 has a conductive plastic track |
| 574 / 575 | P11A | When vertically mounted to a PCB the P11A with a “W” pinout type is a possible alternative. Overall dimensions are different; please review the catalog |
| 381 | P13 | The P13 has smaller dimensions with a diameter of 12.6 mm compared to 15.9 mm for the 381. The P13 also has rear leads, while leads are on the side for the 381 |
| 43 / RA20 | PE30 | Not fully equivalent, but could be crossed with the PE30, which has similar performance in terms of power dissipation but has cermet instead of wirewound |
| R8 / RA30 | PE60 | Not fully equivalent, but could be crossed with the PE60, which has similar performance in terms of power dissipation but has cermet instead of wirewound |
| 73 | 534 / 536 | 10 turns wirewound and nearly fully equivalent |
| 578 | 357 / ECS / PP22 | Similar performance but the housing is different. Similar in appearance to the former 601-1045 Spectrol product range. Please review the catalog |
This document is subject to specific disclaimers, set forth at www.vishay.com/doc?91000.
For more information please visit at: www.vishay.com.
