[s1900ahon]

Occam's Razor suggests "yes, you likely wired it wrong"

Potentiometers have 3 terminals, two between the ends of a resistor and one that contacts the resistor between the ends (typically controlled by the shaft).

If you have a 5kohm pot, there is 5kohms between the two ends, regardless of the shaft angle, and the resistance between either end and the wiper varies based on shaft angle.

You connect the two ends across power and ground (red and black) and connect the wiper to the signal (white) [respective to a white-red-black servo wire]

What it sounds like is you wired power and ground to one end and the wiper. As you rotate the wiper towards one end, the resistance goes down, current goes up, and eventually the supply craters due to excessive current draw.