i need a 100k potentiometer but dont know whether i need a linear one or a logarithmic or whatever i dont know. can someone tell me and i linked a few in the next post sorry.
The only thing worth saving on these are the knobs. Total junk. I replaced them with these....Linear Taper 1/2 watt 100K Ohm Potentiometers https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002KRE2U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_JbpHKzTSpa94s. Added a 10k ohm resistor to the neg. side as per @gromau5. Gives dimming down to 10% with the resistor in place. No problems since I changed them out.
Got 5 for $5 on ebay. None go up to 100%, highest is ~90%. So if I understand correctly none of them are actually 100k. Someone in the thread I made about this recommended 125k to go to max.
Ya I bought a few bags of the 100K cheapies and they range from 88K-115K. I used the ones over 100K and 2 or 3 of them went bad over time. The bad ones caused my driver to reduce its output power to 50% and would flicker occasionally. At first I thought my drivers were bad but eventually I realized it was the pots, even though they tested fine on the bench.
Even if you have a pot that is over 100K you will get slightly more driver output when you disconnect the pot. You can install a switch to interrupt the pot for a small driver boost.