If a fan is being fed not quite a big enough voltage to start, then it will be drawing more current than it would draw when spinning at the same voltage, and so generating more heat but not cooling itself down. At any rate, that would be the case for a simple motor: I suppose it might be different with the circuitry in those brushless fan motors. So, I wondered if it might be bad for them. Does anyone know?
Another question: do they tend to make ticking noises as they give little twitches but fail to start spinning? (Bad in another way.)
Is it bad to feed an un-started fan 4V for long times?
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From what I remember of high school, I would tend to agree that the excess energy that isn't being converted to rotational power would have to be given off as heat. Also, I don't believe any computer fans are designed with heat dissipation in mind since it would cost alot to plan/manufacturer and there really shouldn't be a point to it. Basically, a fan is a really in-effective heatsink if its not running and has volts flowing through it. I would imagine that the circuitry is equally as simple and subject to heat damage.