Potential or ‘voltage' starting relays are used with single-phase capacitor-start/capacitor-run motors, which need relatively high starting torque. Their main function is to assist in starting the motor. These starting relays consist of a high-resistance coil and a set of normally closed contacts. The coil is wired between terminals 2 and 5, with the contacts between terminal 1 and 2. Terminals 4 and 6 are used for capacitor and/or condenser fan connections and have no electrical significance to the starting relay itself (Figure 1). Terminals 4 and 6 are sometimes referred to as dummy terminals and are simply used for wire connections.
Fig. 2 shows how a potential starting relay is wired to a capacitor-start/capacitor-run compressor motor. Note that the relay coil is wired in parallel (across) the start winding. The normally closed contacts are wired in series with the start winding and the start capacitor.