Title: Introduction to Your Trainer
Course: Electrical Motor Controls (Sandbox) > Section: Module 1: Introduction to Motor Controls, 6 hr

What You Need to Know About the Motor Controls Trainer

The following video will explain the components of and how to use the Motor Controls Trainer. You will be using the Trainer in this course's labs.

Lecture Notes

Pictured are the components for the Motor Controls Trainer, mounted to the DIN rails. Your trainer should look like this:

A terminal block is an electrical connector where wires are clamped down to a metal part using a screw or other mechanism. The terminal blocks on your trainer are screw-type. Your terminal block may not look exactly like this, but the 24 VAC and N blocks and the 24 DC+ and 24 DC- should be clearly marked.

Inspect the components on your trainer to determine whether they are AC or DC components. This is critical for motor starters, contact relays, and control relays. The switches, buttons, lights, and timing relays on your trainer are all able to run on either AC or DC.

DC Components

The control relays will have a little blue-green button on the front. The side of the component will clearly be labeled "24 VDC". The motor starter will be labeled "DC 24V" at the coil between terminals A1 and A2.

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If you have DC control relays and motor starters, please only connect them to the DC terminal block or to a DC power supply (pictured here):

AC Components

The control relays will have a little red button on the front. The side of the component will clearly be labeled "24 VAC". The motor starter will be labeled "24V - 50Hz / 24-26V - 60Hz" at the coil between terminals A1 and A2.

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If you have AC control relays and motor starters, please only connect them to the 24 VAC/N terminal blocks on  the trainer.

Schematic Diagrams

A schematic diagram is a diagram that shows the electrical connections and functions of a specific circuit. A schematic diagram uses graphic symbols to represent components of the system.

You will use schematic diagrams in this course's labs. Each item on your trainer has a graphic symbol, as shown below:

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