A starter is a device to start and accelerate a motor. A controller is a device to start the motor, control and reverse the speed of the DC motor and stop the motor. It also protects the motor from any damage.
Need of Starters for DC Motors
The armature current of a motor is given by
Thus, Ia depends upon E and Ra, if V is kept constant. When the motor is first switched ON, the armature is stationary. Hence, the back EMF Eb is also zero. The initial starting armature current Ias is given by the equation shown below.
Since, the armature resistance of a motor is very small, generally less than one ohm. Therefore, the starting armature current Ias would be very large. For example – if a motor with the armature resistance of 0.5 ohms is connected directly to a 230 V supply, then by putting the values in the equation (2) we will get.
This large current would damage the brushes, commutator and windings.
As the motor speed increases, the back EMF increases and the difference (V – E) go on decreasing. This results in a gradual decrease of armature current until the motor attains its stable speed and the corresponding back EMF. Under this condition, the armature current reaches its desired value. Thus, it is found that the back EMF helps the armature resistance in limiting the current through the armature.
Since at the time of starting the DC Motor, the starting current is very large. At the time of starting of all DC Motors, except for very small motors, an extra resistance must be connected in series with the armature. This extra resistance is added so that a safe value of the motor is maintained and to limit the starting current until the motor has attained its stable speed.
The series resistance is divided into sections which are cut out one by one, as the speed of the motor rises and the back EMF builds up. The extra resistance is cut out when the speed of the motor builds up to its normal value.