Although many applications today call for AC motors, DC motors like the General Electric DC Motor 5010AY still play an important role in modern industry. For example, the oil and gas industries have special needs for DC motors as do many manufacturing industries. When it comes to direct current motors, there are three main types to consider. Knowing the difference can help you choose the right equipment for the job.
Series
In a series wound motor, the field windings and armature wired are in a series connection. Series connections are wired with negative to positive connections. On the other hand, a parallel connection connects negative to negative and positive to positive. You can draw a lot of current with high start-up torque. The motor speed depends on the load and reducing full-load current increases the speed.
Shunt
With a shunt wound General Electric DC Motor 5010AY, the armature and field windings are connected in a parallel circuit. This keeps the current in the field constant. Unlike a series motor, load has little effect on speed, but a shunt wound motor does not deliver the kind of start-up torque as a series wound DC motor.
Compound
A compound wound motor has both characteristics of a shunt wound General Electric DC Motor 5010AY, and a series wound motor. Most of the field windings are in a parallel connection. However, some windings are wired in series with the armature. This gives you starting torque higher than a shunt motor but not as much as a series wound motor. If you need speed to increase or decrease with load, you can accomplish this with a compound motor by increasing or decreasing the series field windings. These motors can be used with DC battery power too. Contact your DC motor specialists to find out more on the subject.