I bought a size 2 motor starter on ebay. It is Allen Bradley and looks
like 500 series. (the label does not say what series).

I want to use it for my 10 HP compressor, which is the kind of service
where it would restart the motor many times per day.

Anyhow, I opened up the cover to look at contacts and it appears that
they have some wear. I cannot really tell if it is too much or not,
because I am not qualified to tell.

So, I have a couple of questions.

1) How can I know if the contacts are too worn?

2) If I buy an "aftermarket contact kit", are they really as good as
the originals? Do the original contacts have silver plates?

Thanks

i