Temperature protection control for a motor starter

A motor starter temperature protection control (10) is disclosed in which an ambient temperature sensor (36) is positioned on an inside cover of the motor starter (12) to sense temperature across the power poles (22, 24, 26) and heat sinks (42, 44, 46) and provide a signal indicative of the ambient temperature in the motor starter. A power pole temperature sensor (30, 32, 34) is positioned in thermal communication with each power pole (22, 24, 26) and produce signals indicative of the temperature of each power pole (22, 24, 26). A microprocessor (28) is connected to each of the temperature sensors (30, 32, 34, 36) and receives the temperature signals to control the motor starter operation based on the temperature inputs. The microprocessor (28) is programmed to periodically monitor (72, 82) the temperature signals and compare (74) these signals against a fan-on limit, and if the signals exceed the fan-on limit (76), the control turns on the internal fans (78) of the motor starter. The control (10) continues to monitor the ambient and power pole temperatures and if either should exceed a maximum temperature limit(104, 106), the motor starter is placed in a shutdown mode (96), unless an optional override has been set (92, 98). Upon motor shutdown (126), the control (10) tracks how long it takes for the motor starter to cool down (130), and if it takes too long (148, 150, 152), a maintenance flag (154) is set to indicate that preventive maintenance is required.