So long story short I used a 12V power adapter for a 5V laptop cooling pad and burnt out the fans instantly, small puff of smoke and all, they rotated for a second. These are the simple 80mm brushless fans with just a red and black wiring running to the electromagnets on the stator and the other magnets built into the fan blade assembly on the rotor. That being said I am wondering what is possible to even fry on these fans since they are so simple? I am trying to figure out if I was more likely to fry the 5V DC jack or I/O switch first and could just simply replace those or maybe some wires. Thanks!

 

hi b,
My best estimate the 5v fan motor is toast.
Its been subjected over twice its rated current.
Get a 4.5V dry battery and use as a test on the fan.
E

 

That being said I am wondering what is possible to even fry on these fans since they are so simple?

You subjected them to twice the voltage which generates at least 4 times the heat, probably more if their magnetics saturate.

What has "simple" got to do with it?
An incandescent light bulb is about as simple as you can get, but will also instantly burn out if you apply twice its rated voltage.

 

. That being said I am wondering what is possible to even fry on these fans since they are so simple? I am trying to figure out if I was more likely to fry the 5V DC jack or I/O switch first and could just simply replace those or maybe some wires. Thanks!

Are you sure they are that simple?
All the ones I have examined have a small SMT IC that is mounted strategically to the rotor magnet for accurate commutation.
Max.

 

I'm well aware it was subjected to over double the voltage thanks.. By "simple" I meant I just wanted to know what causes a BLDC motor to fail since I thought the only components conducting electricity were the windings which were not "burnt out" like the tiny tungsten filament of a light bulb. But thank you everyone else for the constructive replies I didn't realize there was an IC controlling the polarity that's more along the lines of what I was looking for.