problems with cheap 10k ohm linear taper

[DarKCroNo]

We've been trying to use the 10k ohm linear taper for our steering mechanism keep burning out, we plug the 2 outer wires to the positive and negative on the pwm cables and also the middle wire to the middle wire, but for some reason we keep burning them out and also the values aren't what they're suppose to be, when i turn the taper half way and connect it the value of analog is 1000 and then when we turn it further to the right or left it starts to smell burnt. The thing is we had it working before, but then when we switched our robot back on it just burned out. If anyone can give any inputs on why it is happening or how to fix it, it'd be greatly appreciated thanks!