Potentiometer is hot!

I have a project that uses 4 pots, one of them gets flippin hot!
And I swear I saw some smoke come off of it.
It still works, but I was wondering what might be some causes of this?
And how I can prevent it?
Obviously, this is a bad thing....

How is it wired? You probably need to remove it from the circuit and measure if it is still in spec.

Thanks for the reply.
Its wired as per usual, +to+, -to- and pin to pin.
its so weird, because now its not doing it...
I think the + and - lines might have crossed somehow.
would that do it?

It could get really hot if you had the center (the wiper) and the negative end reversed.

Don

If the pot gets as hot as you indicate, a lot of current is running through it. This could very well damage your Arduino.

If the other pots are hooked up in the ame way, and do net get hot i would try to replace the one that gets hot with a new one.

If the pot gets as hot as you indicate, a lot of current is running through it.

Sort of - the current is not due to the heat, the heat is due to the current.

This could very well damage your Arduino

.
Not likely - this large current is not going into or out of the Arduino.

Don

I appreciate the help.
Something must have been crossed...
I cleaned up the sloppy wiring I had, and everything is "Kool and the Gang".
Thanks everyone for the help!