Hey everyone. I own an LG air conditioner and one of its knobs breaks frequently. Its the one that controls modes including off, low cool, high cool, low heat, high heat, high fan and low fan. The other controls temperature (warm or cool) and works fine. When I opened it up and looked at the PCB board, I saw that the mode control is nothing but a giant potentiometer with 6 pins. It also locks in when turned to different modes so its not like a regular pot which turns smoothly. See attached pictures.

Everytime this knob breaks I have to order the whole main PCB board from LG which costs $65. But if I can just replace the broken pot I will save a lot of money. All I would have to do is unsolder it and put another one in its place.

But I dont know where to buy such a pot. I have tried looking all over the internet using part numbers but I cant find anything useful. I came across pots like rotary switch pot but I am not sure if its the kind I need. So if anyone knows, what kind of pot is it? What is it called? Any website I can buy them from? Thanks for reading.

 

Welcome to the forum alikazi.

Hmm, this sounds more like a switch than a potentiometer. What "breaks" exactly when it goes bad? Is is mechanical (the shaft) or electrical (doesn't allow you to switch modes)?

This has seven positions (?) but six pins - might be a BCD switch or similar. If the break is mechanical and you can still turn the knob with pliers, try desoldering the part from a "bad" board first, then use the continuity function on a meter to determine which pins are connected to each other in each switch (knob) position.

Desoldering the part may reveal a part number underneath as well. It looks like there is some information on the top of the part, but I can't read it in the pictures. Post whatever you find and we'll see what we can do.

 

The shaft breaks from the bottom. I cant glue it back or use any tool to turn the button. It looks like a potentiometer but I think its a rotary switch. I just researched more and radioshack has one so I am gonna check it out tomorrow. Thanks for the help.

 

The Radio Shack part is a 12 throw single pole. They used to carry a 6 pole double throw as well.