03 EC 402: INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS

L – 20: Simple Ladder Diagrams for DOL Starter

1. Basic of the DOL starter

DOL (Direct-On-Line) starter is used to start the motor by applying full line voltage to the
motor.

DOL starter is used for the motors having rating up-to the 05HP. Figure shows the control
diagram of the DOL starter

Construction;

The starter contains a (Miniature Circuit Breaker) for the incoming supply protection.

It contains two push buttons one for the “START” and the other for the “STOP”. A contactor
used for the switching power circuits using control voltages.

 In case of small rating motors having less than 05HP motors.

o The starting current is not so very high and these motors can withstand starting
current without any starters.
o Thus there is no need to reduce the applied voltage to control the starting current.

 Such motors use a type of starters which connects the stator winding directly to the
supply without reduction in voltage;
o Therefore the starter is known as DOL (DIRECT-ON-LINE) starters.
o This starter does not reduce applied voltage but protects from various ways like
overloading, under voltage, single phasing
Parts explanation:-
 Magnetic contactors
 Over load relay protection
 NO (normally open)
 NC (normally closed

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Magnetic contactors:- magnetic contactors is an electrically controlled

switch used for switching a power circuit similar to relay except with higher
current rating.
 A contactor is controlled by a circuit which has much lower level than
the switched circuit.

 Magnetic contactors consist of a coil which produces magnetic field.

o The contactors are consist of additional contacts i.e.; NO

(Normally Open) and NC (Normally Closed).

NO (normally open) :- When start button is pressed the motor is on till the
Push button is pressed (inching).
 Therefore NO contact is used in the contactors.

NO(Normally Open) contact ensures that the motor remains in ON

condition when push button is left.
NC (Normally Closed) :- When stop button is pressed NC (Normally
Closed) contact in the contactor breaks the circuit and motor will stop.
normally closed push buttons are make the contacts in its default state and
breaks the circuit when it is pressed.

Over Load Relay:- Over load relay plays an important role for the
protection of the motor.
 Over Load Relay protection is used for the protection of motor against;

o Over voltage,
o Overheating,
o Under voltage,

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 03 EC 402: INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS

DOL Starter physical layout

How DOL Starter control diagram works
When the start button is pressed to start the motor, the relay gets the phase
and circuit completed, thus the coil energizes and contactors produce
magnetic field.
 The main contactor closes and motor gets the supply and it starts.

 When the STOP button is pressed, the circuit will interrupt and the
motor will STOP

Requirements to make a DOL STARTER using PLC

 START push button for starting of the starter

 STOP push button to stop the circuit
 CONTACTOR for holding

Figure shows the ladder diagram for the DOL starters.

Working of the Ladder Diagram

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 03 EC 402: INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS

When START push button is pressed contactor will be ON and it starts until the STOP push
button is not pressed.

When we have pressed the start push button the contactor NO behind the start push button holds
the circuit.

STOP push button is pressed the CONTACTOR will be OFF until START button is not pressed
again.

We can also made this program using latching here is the ladder diagram of DOL starter using
latching.

2. Star Delta Starter: Circuit Diagram, Working Principle & Theory

What is Star Delta Starter

A star delta starter is the most commonly used method for the starting of a 3 phase induction
motor.

 In star delta starting an induction motor is connected in through a star

connection throughout the starting period.
 Then once the motor reaches the required speed, the motor is connected in through a delta
connection.
 A star delta starter will start a motor with a star connected stator winding.
o When motor reaches about 80% of its full load speed, it will begin to run in a
delta connected stator winding.

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A star delta starter is a type of reduced voltage starter.

We use it to reduce the starting current of the motor without using any external device or
apparatus.
 This is a big advantage of a star delta starter, as it typically has around 1/3 of the inrush
current compared to a DOL starter.
The starter mainly consists of a Triple Pole Double Throw (TPDP) switch. This switch changes
stator winding from star to delta.
During starting condition, stator winding is connected in the form of a star.

Let us see how a star delta starter reduces the starting current of a three-phase induction motor.

For that let us consider;

VL = Supply Line Voltage,
ILS = Supply Line Current and,
IPS = Winding Current per Phase and
Z = Impedance per phase winding at stand still condition.

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As the winding is star connected, the winding current per phase (IPS) equals to supply line current
(ILS).

As the winding is star connected, the voltage across each phase of the winding is

Hence, the winding current per phase is

Since here, the winding current per phase (IPS) equals to the supply line current (ILS), we can
write,

Now, let us consider the situation where the motor gets started with delta connected stator
winding from same three phase supply points,

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Here, ILD = Supply Line Current and, IPD = Winding Current per Phase and Z = Impedance per
phase winding at stand still condition.
As the winding is delta connected, supply line current (ILD) is root three times of the winding
current per phase (IPD)

As the winding is delta connected, the voltage across each phase of the winding is

Hence, the winding current per phase is

Now, we can write,

Now, by comparing supply line currents drawn by an induction motor with star and delta
connected winding, we get

Thus we can say that the starting current from the mains in case of star delta is one-third of direct
switching in the delta. Again, we know that the starting torque of an induction motor is
proportional to the square of the voltage applied to the winding per phase.

The equation shows that star delta starter reduces the starting torque to one-third of that
produced by DOL starter. The star-delta starter is equivalent to an autotransformer with a 57.7%
tapping.

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Advantages of Star Delta Starter;- The advantages of star delta starters include:
1. Inexpensive
2. No heat is produced, or tap changing device needs to be used, hence efficiency increases.
3. Starting current reduced to 1/3 of direct online starting current.
4. Produce high torque per ampere of line current.

Disadvantages of Star Delta Starter;- The disadvantages of star delta starters include:
1. Starting torque is reduced to 1/3 of full load torque.
2. A particular set of motors required.

Application of Star Delta Starter

As discussed in the above advantages and disadvantages;

 A star delta starter is most suited to applications where the required starting current is
low and where the line current draw must be at a minimum value.
 The star delta starter is not suitable for applications where high starting torque delivery is
required. For these applications, a DOL starter should be used instead.
If the motor is too heavily loaded, there will not be enough torque to accelerate the motor up-to
speed before switching over to the delta position.
 Example application for a star delta starter is a Centrifugal compressor.

3. Star- Delta starter ladder diagram

Figure shows the star delta starter ladder diagram. In this ladder diagram we
have used :-
 Two push buttons ( one for start and one for stop )
 Timer ( ON-Delay Timer )
 Three contactors for main, star and delta.

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Working of the Star-Delta starter ladder diagram

When start push button is pressed binary bit holds the timer.
 Now this time main contactor will be ON with the starting of the timer
due to the enable bit of the timer.

 When timer starts counting the time then star contactor will be ON and
remains in ON condition till the time has finished due to the timer
timing bit.

 When timer has finished its time delta contactor will be on and star
contactor will be off due to the done bit of the timer.

Here we have used ‘allen bradly’ PLC. In this PLC timer has several
addressing bits:-
 Enable bits (EN)- Timer enable bit has been executed when timer comes in
ON status.
 Timer Timing bit (TT) - Timer Timing bit are the accumulator of the timer
means it will be on till the timer count its time.
 Done Bit (DN) - Timer done bit executes when timer finish its preset value.
When STOP push button has pressed rung will be false and starter will stop.

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