Russian Pots Good/Bad?

[wrenchone]

There are a fair number of Russian pots (Cold War plunder!) available for cheap on E-pay. I have taken the plunge and gotten some, and took the liberty of skinning one to look at the resistive element, which appears to be generously deposited carbon. It actually looks pretty decent for a carbon pot, and universes better than those cheap little open frame one-turn trimmers laid down on phenolic board (but then, what isn't?). Has anyone actually used some of these? It would be interesting to know if these are an inexpensive reasonable quality alternative to a premium carbon pot like those from PEC.

 

[JonSnell Electronic]

Going on repairing many Russian built transistor radios and amplifiers, years ago, I have never had to replace a pot that was made in USSR or the Eastern Block. I have just bought another batch of 6L6GC valves (NOS) from Slovenia. They are Military Grade and good quality, thick cathodes,with graphite coated anodes. They last longer and give more power than USA built 6L6GC;s.

 

[wrenchone]

If I remember, I'll post a pic of the guts of the pot I opened up - it's no good for anything else now.

 

[livingstone]

Could you share a picture of one or post a link?

 

[wrenchone]

Here's a picture of the pot I eviscerated. Overall construction is quite nice, with a heavy carbon track and a well-constructed wiper assembly. I'm leaning towards using a pair of these in law-fake mode in my vacuum state integrated amp.

 

[makervier]

some of this products you can buy from China,the price and the quality is good.I often buy it from China

 

[wrenchone]

I have seen some offerings from Ebay sellers in China that look like clones of the Russian potentiometer shown in the picture, though I have no idea if the inner construction is the same.