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Understanding Motor Controls, Cengage International Edition, 5th Edition

Stephen L. Herman, Frank Seiler

  • Copyright 2026
  • {{checkPublicationMessage('Published', '2025-05-01T00:00:00+0000')}}
Starting At $99.95 See pricing and ISBN options
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Understanding Motor Controls, Cengage International Edition 5th Edition by Stephen L. Herman/Frank Seiler
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Overview

Herman/Seiler's UNDERSTANDING MOTOR CONTROLS, Cengage International Edition, is designed for students with no previous experience in motor controls and introduces basic principles for using components in motor control circuits. Illustrations depict the building of complicated circuits and troubleshooting skills with basic types of meters and test equipment. While the use of modern equipment is highlighted throughout the book, legacy types of timers and other motor control devices are also included for reference. Updates include the most recent edition of the National Electrical Code®, clearly illustrating how to select overloads and protect the control circuitry. Motor control components and hands-on laboratory experiments enable students to practice concepts, starting with simple circuits and advancing to more complicated topics involving timing relays, programmable devices and auto-transformer starters.

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Meet the Authors

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Stephen L. Herman

Stephen L. Herman was an electrician and proficient instructor with over 30 years of practical experience and was known for his reader-friendly approach. A seasoned author, Mr. Herman wrote leading books on electricity and mathematics that are popular with students and instructors alike. For two decades, Mr. Herman served as lead instructor for the Electrical Technology Curriculum at Lee College in Baytown, Texas, where he received an Excellence in Education Award from the Halliburton Education Foundation. He also taught at Randolph Community College in Asheboro, North Carolina, for nine years and helped pioneer an electrical curriculum for Northeast Texas Community College in Mount Pleasant, Texas. His additional publications include ELECTRIC MOTOR CONTROL, ELECTRICITY AND CONTROLS FOR HVAC/R, INDUSTRIAL MOTOR CONTROLS, UNDERSTANDING MOTOR CONTROLS, ELECTRONICS FOR ELECTRICIANS, ALTERNATING CURRENT FUNDAMENTALS, DIRECT CURRENT FUNDAMENTALS, ELECTRICAL STUDIES FOR TRADES, ELECTRICAL PRINCIPLES, EXPERIMENTS IN ELECTRICITY FOR USE WITH LAB VOLT EQUIPMENT, THE COMPLETE LABORATORY MANUAL FOR ELECTRICITY and PRACTICAL PROBLEMS IN MATHEMATICS FOR ELECTRICIANS.

Frank Seiler

With three decades of both in-the-field and instructional experience, Frank Seiler is able to convey practical installation requirements as well as code compliance in his teaching and writing. Mr. Seiler has been a member of the International Association of Electrical Inspectors for almost 30 years, teaching for the local Eastern Washington chapter as well as on occasion for IEC, IBEW and motor controls in the Electrical Maintenance and Automation department at Spokane Community College. Prior to working in academia, Mr. Seiler served as a lead electrical inspector for the Department of Labor and Industries of Washington State. Seeing a need for more extensive training opportunities, he has been the director of INW Industrial Training LLC since 2011, where he continues to teach continuing education classes, test preparation and electrical safety for onsite customers.

Features

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  • Expanded coverage highlights industrial motor control topics and basic electronics coverage needed for modern installation as well as repairs of older systems.
  • The abundance of clear illustrations have been thoroughly updated to depict recent components and technologies to help students visualize and reinforce challenging principles.
  • The hands-on lab experiments are designed so that you and your students can construct and complete the experiments with materials you have access to.
  • Detailed examples and associated troubleshooting test questions clarify difficult topics and prepare students for real-life situations they will encounter in the field.

Table of Contents

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Electrical and Material Safety.
Section I: BASIC CONTROL CIRCUITS AND COMPONENTS.
1. General Principles of Motor Control.
2. Symbols and Schematic Diagrams.
3. Manual Starters.
4. Overload Relays.
5. Relays, Contactors, and Motor Starters.
6. The Control Transformer.
Section II: BASIC CONTROL CIRCUITS.
7. Start-Stop Pushbutton Control.
8. Multiple Pushbutton Stations.
9. Forward-Reverse Control.
10. Jogging and Inching.
11. Timing Relays.
12. Sequence Control.
Section III: SENSING DEVICES.
13. Pressure Switches and Sensors.
14. Float Switches and Liquid Level Sensors.
15. Flow Switches.
16. Limit Switches.
17. Temperature Sensing Devices.
18. Hall Effect Sensors.
19. Proximity Detectors.
20. Photodetectors.
21. Reading Large Schematic Diagrams.
22. Installing Control Systems.
Section IV: STARTING AND BRAKING METHODS.
23. Across-the-Line Starting.
24. Resistor and Reactor Starting for AC Motors.
25. Autotransformer Starting.
26. Wye-Delta Starting.
27. Part Winding Starting.
28. DC Motors.
29. Single-Phase Motors.
30. Braking.
Section V: WOUND ROTOR, SYNCHRONOUS, AND CONSEQUENT POLE MOTORS.
31. Wound Rotor Motors.
32. Synchronous Motors.
33. Consequent Pole Motors.
Section VI: VARIABLE SPEED DRIVES.
34. Variable Voltage and Magnetic Clutches.
35. Solid State DC Motor Controls.
36. Variable Frequency Control.
Section VII: MOTOR INSTALLATION.
37. Motor Installation.
Section VIII: PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CONTROLLERS.
38. Programmable Logic Controllers.
39. Programming a PLC.
40. Analog Sensing for PLCs.
Section IX: DEVELOPING CONTROL CIRCUITS AND TROUBLESHOOTING.
41. Developing Control Circuits.
42. Troubleshooting.
Section X: ELECTRONICS FOR INDUSTRIAL MOTOR CONTROL.
43. Direct Drives and Pulley Drives.
44. Semiconductors.
45. The PN Junction.
46. The Zener Diode.
47. Light Emitting Diodes and Photodiodes.
48. The Transistor.
49. The Unijunction Transistor (UJT).
50. The SCR.
51. The Diac.
52. The Triac.
53. The 555 Timer.
54. The Operational Amplifier.
Section XI: LAB EXERCISES.

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MindTap Options

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MindTap
Each MindTap product offers the full, mobile-ready textbook combined with superior and proven learning tools at one affordable price. Students who purchase digital access can add a print option at any time when a print option is available for their course.

This Cengage solution can be seamlessly integrated into most Learning Management Systems (Blackboard, Brightspace by D2L, Canvas, Moodle, and more) but does require a different ISBN for access codes. Please work with your Cengage Learning Consultant to ensure the proper course set up and ordering information. For additional information, please visit the LMS Integration site.

Standalone Digital Access — Ultimate Value

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  • ISBN-10: 8214114098
  • ISBN-13: 9798214114095
  • RETAIL $99.95
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Textbook Only Options

Traditional eBook and Print Options

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  • ISBN-10: 821412946X
  • ISBN-13: 9798214129464
  • RETAIL $250.95
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Supplements

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Cengage provides a range of supplements that are updated in coordination with the main title selection. For more information about these supplements, contact your Learning Consultant.

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MindTap for Herman/Seiler's Understanding Motor Controls, 2 terms Instant Access

ISBN: 9798214114095
MindTap for Herman/Seiler's UNDERSTANDING MOTOR CONTROLS, 5th Edition, is the digital learning solution that powers students from memorization to mastery. It gives you complete control of your course to provide engaging content, challenge every individual and build their confidence. Empower students to accelerate their progress with MindTap. MindTap: Powered by You. MindTap provides complete ownership of your course content and learning experience. Customize the interactive syllabi, emphasize the most important topics, use various interactive elements to boost student engagement and add your own material or notes in the eBook.