Quote:
Originally Posted by Mustang Dave
It absolutely IS resisting current flow. A resistor in series with a motor will cause a drop in current draw. Unless Ohm's Law has somehow changed since I earned my Electrical Engineering degree. (It hasn't.)  |
That is true if the motor is a resistive load. But it's not. Motors draw more current to start than to run. If enough resistance is added in series, the motor will not start. Then it can draw more current than if it was running normally at full power. Obviously, that does not intentionally happen in our case. But with age, the motor bearings might tighten up such that it will fail to start on reduced current. The result is usually a blown fuse, but it's possible for the motor to be damaged by prolonged operation in "locked rotor" mode.