A motor at rest has no back or counter e.m.f.

At staring therefore, the armature

current is limited only by the resistance of the armature circuit. The armature
resistance is well low, however, and if full voltage were impressed upon the motor
terminals at stand still, the resulting armature current would be many times full-load
value-usually sufficient to damage the machine. For this reason, additional resistance
is introduced into the armature circuit at starting. As the motor gains speed, its back
e.m.f builds up and the starting resistance is cut out.
Note. Very small D.C. motors, either shunt, series or compound wound, have
sufficient armature resistance so that they may be started directly from the line
without the use of a staring resistance and without injury to the motor.
Fig. 75 shows the connections of a starting resistance in three types of D.C. motors:
a) A series motor;
b) A shunt motor; and
c) A compound motor.
In the case of series motor [Fig. 75 (a)], the armature, field and starting
resistance are all in series.
In the case of shunt motor [Fig. 75 (b)l, it will be seen that the top end
of shunt field is connected to the first contact on the starting resistance.
This is to ensure that the field winding receives the full supply at the
moment of switching on. If the fields were connected to the last stud of the
starting resistance, then on starting, the field would receive only a
proportion of the supply voltage, the field current would be correspondingly
weak and the torque might be too small to start the motor against the
friction of the moving
parts.

Fig. 75. Circuits incorporating starting resistances.

The connections for the compound motor are seen from [Fig. 75
all to be a combination of those of the series and the shunt connections.
7.13.2. Starters for shunt and compound motors
 The starters of D.C. motors are generally manufactured in
convenient sizes and styles for use as auxiliaries with D.C. shunt and
compound motors. Their primary function is to limit the current in the
armature circuit during the starting accelerating period.
The motor starters are always rated on the basis of output
power and voltage of the motors with which they are to be used.
There are two standard types of motor starters for shunt and
compound motors. These are:
(i) Three-point type; and
(ii) Four-point type.
Three-point starters are not completely satisfactory when used with motors
whose speeds must be controlled by inserting resistance in the shunt field
circuit. However, when applications require little or no speed control, either
may be employed.
Three-point starter. Refer Fig. 76. The starter has three terminals L, F and
A. The line terminal L must be connected to either side, positive or negative
of the D.C. source on the main switch ; the field terminal F is connected to
one field terminal on the motor; the armature terminal A must be connected
to either one of the motor armature terminals. The final connection must
then be made from the second line terminal on the main switch to a junction
of the remaining two armature and field terminals of the motor. If it is
desired that the speed of the motor is controlled, a field rheostat is added as
shown in Fig. 76
(a).

Fig. 76. Three-point starter connected to a shunt motor.

When the motor is at rest, the starter arm [represented by an arrow in Fig.
76 (a)] is held in the OFF position by a strong spiral spring.

Starting of motor:

In order to start the motor, one hand is held on the handle of the
open main switch while the starter arm is moved to the first stud [Figs.
76 (a) and (b)] with the other hand; then the main switch is closed. If all
the wiring is correct and the armature is free to turn, the motor will
start.
After the armature has accelerated sufficiently on the first stud,
the starter arm is slowly moved to studs 2, 3, 4 etc. until the arm rests
firmly against the iron poles of the holding-coil electromagnet. The
entire starting process should take from 5 to 10 seconds. In the final
position, the electromagnetic pull exerted by the holding coil will be
greater than the force exerted by the spiral spring. Should there be a
power failure or should the field circuit be opened accidentally, the
starter arm will fall back to its OFF position. This function of starter is
particularly important because:

(i) if the power fails and starter arm is not restored to the
OFF position, the motor might be damaged should the power, come on
again; and

(ii) if the shunt field circuit were opened accidentally and the
starter arm did not return to the OFF position, the motor speed might
become dangerously high.

Often the motors are protected against overloads by thermal

overload relays in which bimetallic is heated by motor current at
approximately the same rate at which the motor is itself heating up.
Above a certain temperature, this relay trips and opens the line
contractor thereby isolating the motor from the supply.

Drawback of a three-point starter. The use of a three-point starter

presents a problem. The speed of the motor is controlled by means of the
field rheostat. To increase the speed of motor necessitates the setting of the
field rheostat to a higher resistance value. The current through the shunt
field is reduced, and so is the current through the coil of the holding
electromagnet. The reduced current through the coil weakens the strength
of the magnet and makes susceptible to line-voltage variations. In the
weakened condition a slight reduction in line voltage would further weaken
the holding magnet, releasing the arm of the starter and thus disconnecting
the motor from the line. Unscheduled stoppages of the motor make the
three-point starter quite unpopular.

Four-point starter:
 Fig. 77 shows a simplified diagram of a four-point
starter.

Fig. 77. Four-point starter.

In this starter the drawback/disadvantage of the three-
point starter is eliminated. In addition to the same three-points that
were used with the three-point starter; the other side of the line,
L2 is the fourth point brought to the starter. The coil of the holding
magnet is connected across the line when the arm is moved from
the off position. The holding magnet and starting resistors function
as in the three-point starter. The possibility of accidentally opening
the field circuit is quite remote; hence the greater acceptance of the
four-point starter over the three-point starter.
- The four-point starter provides the motor with no voltage
protection. Should the power fail, the motor must be disconnected from
the line. If not, full line voltage will be applied to the armature without
the benefit of starting resistors when power is restored. The holding
magnet, being connected across the line, releases the arm when the
voltage drops below a specific value, thus protecting the motor when
the power is restored.