Is a fan starting and stopping frequently worse for its lifespan than constantly running?

[LOST TALE]

I have the cpu fan is set to start at a certain temperature. When the heatsink gets too hot, it starts but then soon stops again. This repeats at least 60 times each hour.

I hear a noise of a broken bearing once in a while. Not sure if its my gpu or my cpu fan.

 

edit: I just caught the cpu fan start and stop by chance and no noise took place. The plot tickens.

edit: ok so I confirm it is the cpu fan, and only at higher speeds and only in its current facing up position. I checked for obstruction.

edit: Scanned through a few set voltages and problem magically gone. Maybe I shaked the lubricant around a little while trying the different positions. I'll just put it upside down for a while if this happens again. I wonder if that PSU fan I replaced might have the same issue...I don't remember.

 

I'm pretty sure the constant starting and stopping ruined it.... I wonder how long it would last if I turned the cooler sideways.

[RAS_3885]

Could be from the start/stop scheme or could just be the fan dying. You'll never be able to quantify a shortened life span, if any, from starting and stopping a CPU fan (or any other PC fan for that matter). THEORETICALLY there should be a little more wear when it first spins up, but again, you'll never be able to say it caused early failure or not.

 

Regardless, it's a silly control strategy for a CPU fan. When I had a motherboard that support SpeedFan I spent entirely too much time trying to come up with clever strategies to stop fans (case, CPU, GPU) until certain temp thresholds. Setting large hysteresis values to prevent the fan cycling on/off all the time as CPU temps fluctuated normally. All in the name of keeping it as quiet as possible. Fun to mess around with, but totally unnecessary and performed worse.

 

In the end, just setting constant minimum RPM that's acceptable for noise and letting it linearly ramp up was almost always better.

[Fredrikmikael]

I guess it would mostly depend on the fan motor design, but the fan stopping and starting once every minute would generally be worse than the fun running at a low RPM during idle and then increase as the temps rises, so just spend a few minutes tweaking the fan curve. If your CPU cooler/heatsink supports it, I would definately recommend replacing the fan if it sounds like it's dying, and you cannot go wrong with Noctua. The orientation of the fan should definately not matter at all.

[LOST TALE]

2 minutes ago, Fredrikmikael said:

I guess it would mostly depend on the fan motor design, but the fan stopping and starting once every minute would generally be worse than the fun running at a low RPM during idle and then increase as the temps rises, so just spend a few minutes tweaking the fan curve. If your CPU cooler/heatsink supports it, I would definately recommend replacing the fan if it sounds like it's dying, and you cannot go wrong with Noctua. The orientation of the fan should definately not matter at all.

How's putting one's finger in the fan and slowing it down or force stopping it? Is it as minor as if the fan was bigger and harder to turn for a few seconds?

[An0maly_76]

My old man is an electrician. Take from that what you will. What I've learned from him is that there is inherently what is known as an increased "surge load" at startup on most anything electrical combined with mechanical, such as electric compressors and electric motors, or anything driven by a motor. And that extra bit of heat and stress from the current draw through the coils to overcome inertia (or any other undue drag) can and will shorten lifespan over time. So whether from a bearing giving up from constant rotation or the windings / stator, etc.,  in the motors giving up, I really don't think you'll get any more life out of a fan either way.

Edited April 2, 2022 by An0maly_76
Revised, more info

[thrasher_565]

11 hours ago, LOST TALE said:

I have the cpu fan is set to start at a certain temperature. When the heatsink gets too hot, it starts but then soon stops again. This repeats at least 60 times each hour.

I hear a noise of a broken bearing once in a while. Not sure if its my gpu or my cpu fan.

 

edit: I just caught the cpu fan start and stop by chance and no noise took place. The plot tickens.

edit: ok so I confirm it is the cpu fan, and only at higher speeds and only in its current facing up position. I checked for obstruction.

edit: Scanned through a few set voltages and problem magically gone. Maybe I shaked the lubricant around a little while trying the different positions. I'll just put it upside down for a while if this happens again. I wonder if that PSU fan I replaced might have the same issue...I don't remember.

 

I'm pretty sure the constant starting and stopping ruined it.... I wonder how long it would last if I turned the cooler sideways.

serten barrings like different orientations some dont care what way it is. so that can shorten its life also slowing it down will put a load on the resister crating heat so that too could reduce the life of said controller. 

Edited April 2, 2022 by thrasher_565