A 4-point starter protects the armature of a DC shunt motor or compound wound DC motor against the initially high starting current of the DC motor.
The 4-point starter has a lot of constructional and functional similarities to a 3-point starter, but this special device has an additional point and coil in its construction (as the name suggests). This brings about some difference in its functionality, though the basic operational characteristic remains the same. The basic difference in the circuit of a 4-point starter as compared to a 3-point starter is that the holding coil is removed from the shunt field current and is connected directly across the line with current limiting resistance in series.
Construction and Operation of Four Point Starter
A 4-point starter as the name suggests has 4 main operational points, namely
- ‘L’ Line terminal (Connected to positive of supply.)
- ‘A’ Armature terminal (Connected to the armature winding.)
- ‘F’ Field terminal. (Connected to the field winding.)
- Like in the case of the 3-point starter, and in addition to it there is,
A 4th point N (Connected to the No Voltage Coil NVC)
The remarkable difference in the case of a 4-point starter is that the No Voltage Coil is connected independently across the supply through the fourth terminal called ‘N’ in addition to the ‘L’, ‘F’, and ‘A’. As a direct consequence of that, any change in the field supply current does not bring about any difference in the performance of the NVC. Thus it must be ensured that no voltage coil always produces a force that is strong enough to hold the handle in its ‘RUN’ position, against the force of the spring, under all the operational conditions. Such a current is adjusted through a No Voltage Coil with the help of fixed resistance R connected in series with the NVC using the fourth point ‘N’ as shown in the figure.
Apart from this above-mentioned fact, the 4-point and 3-point starters are similar in all other ways like possessing is a variable resistance, integrated into several sections as shown in the figure above. The contact points of these sections are called studs and are shown separately as OFF, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and RUN, over which the handle is free to be maneuvered manually to regulate the starting current with gathering speed.
Now to understand its way of operating let’s have a closer look at the diagram given above. Considering that supply is given and the handle is taken stud No.1, then the circuit is complete and the line current starts flowing through the starter. In this situation we can see that the current will be divided into 3 parts, flowing through 3 different points.
- 1 part flows through the starting resistance (R1+ R2 + R3…..) and then to the armature.
- A 2nd part flows through the field winding F.
- A 3rd part flows through the no-voltage coil in series with the protective resistance R.
So the point to be noted here is that with this particular arrangement, any change in the shunt field circuit does not bring about any change in the no voltage coil as the two circuits are independent of each other.
This essentially means that the electromagnet pulls subjected upon the soft iron bar of the handle by the no voltage coil at all points of time should be high enough to keep the handle at its RUN position, or rather prevent the spring force from restoring the handle at its original OFF position, irrespective of how the field rheostat is adjusted.
