runaway_pancake I have not measured the resistance at the wipers of the POTs. Seems to me Tom George has a extremely logical argument why the LEDs are not performing as expected.
The solution then would be to drive the LEDs with transistors, since the base of the transistors would require very little current. This would get by the 2.5mA TomGeorge pointed out.
What I wonder is if I damaged the POTs by the over current?