The 

speed control of d.c. series motors can be obtained by two methods

1. Flux control method

2. Armature-Resistance control method.

Flux control method

In this method, the flux produced by the series dc motor is varied. The variation of flux can be achieved
in the following ways:

1. Field Diverters

2. Armature Diverter
 3. Tapped Field Control

1. Field diverters

In this method, a variable resistance (called field diverter) is connected in parallel with series field
winding.

A part of the line current passes through this diverter and thus weakens the field. Since N ∝ 1/ϕ , speed
also varies with field flux.

Field diverters

The lowest speed obtained by this method is the normal speed of motor when the current through
diverter is zero, ie, diverter open circuited.

2. Armature diverter

In order to obtain speeds below the normal speed, a variable resistance (called armature diverter) is
connected in parallel with the armature of dc series motor.
The diverter reduces the armature current. As a result flux get increased. So the speed decreases
since N ∝ 1/ϕ.

3. Tapped field control

In this method, the flux is reduced (and hence speed is increased) by decreasing the number of turns of
the series field winding.

Tapped field control

The switch S can short circuit any part of the field winding, thus decreasing the flux and raising the
speed.

With full turns of the field winding, the motor runs at normal speed and as the field turns are cut out,
speeds higher than normal speed are achieved.

Armature-resistance Control

In this method, a variable resistance is directly connected in series with the supply. This reduces the
voltage available across the armature and hence the speed falls. 

Armature-resistance Control

By changing the value of variable resistance, any speed below the normal speed can be obtained. This is
the most common method employed to control the speed of d.c. series motors.

SPEED CONTROL OF SERIES MOTOR

1. Flux Control Method
  Field diverter: A variable resistance is connected parallel to the series field as shown in fig (a).
This variable resistor is called as a diverter, as the desired amount of current can be diverted
through this resistor and, hence, current through field coil can be decreased. Thus, flux can be
decreased to the desired amount and speed can be increased.

 Armature diverter: Diverter is connected across the armature as shown in fig (b).
For a given constant load torque, if armature current is reduced then the flux must increase, as
Ta ∝ ØIa
This will result in an increase in current taken from the supply and hence flux Ø will increase and
subsequently speed of the motor will decrease.

 Tapped field control: As shown in fig (c) field coil is tapped dividing number of turns. Thus we
can select different value of Ø by selecting different number of turns.

 Paralleling field coils: In this method, several speeds can be obtained by regrouping coils as
shown in fig (d).

2. Variable Resistance In Series With Armature

By introducing resistance in series with the armature, voltage across the armature can be
reduced. And, hence, speed reduces in proportion with it.

3. Series-Parallel Control

This system is widely used in electric traction, where two or more mechanically coupled series
motors are employed. For low speeds, the motors are connected in series, and for higher speeds, the
motors are connected in parallel.
When in series, the motors have the same current passing through them, although voltage across each
motor is divided. When in parallel, the voltage across each motor is same although the current gets
divided.