diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ba84f61..100a56d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -57,6 +57,24 @@ preheated exhaust air. A shared threshold would peg the fans for drives that are
 and ignore the ones that are not. Measuring each drive against its own envelope makes
 the curve independent of both drive technology and bay position.
 
+A drive with a lower tolerance drives the fans even while a hotter drive does not.
+With `iz-pve0`'s settings (floor 28%, ramp `limit-8` to `limit-5`):
+
+| Drive | Limit | Ramp | Asks at 45c | at 50c | at 55c |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| Samsung 860 EVO | 70c | 62-65c | 28% | 28% | 28% |
+| Toshiba / Seagate HDD | 60c | 52-55c | 28% | 28% | **50%** |
+| a 55c-rated drive | 55c | 47-50c | 28% | **50%** | **50%** |
+
+At 55c the SSD contributes nothing while the spinner asks for full speed, which is the
+whole point: the same temperature means different things to different drives.
+
+**Full cooling must arrive no later than the alarm.** `DISK_RAMP_HIGH_OFFSET` must be
+`>=` `DISK_ALARM_OFFSET`, or the alarm mails you while there is still cooling left unused.
+`check_ramp_ordering()` clamps this at startup and logs when it does — it clamps rather
+than exits, because a fan controller that refuses to start leaves the fans wherever they
+happened to be.
+
 **Reported limits are clamped by class.** They are not uniformly trustworthy — Samsung
 and Kioxia report a real operating maximum (70), Toshiba and Seagate report 60, and WD
 Reds report **85**, which is the SCT critical limit and not somewhere you want a drive
diff --git a/fan_speed.sh b/fan_speed.sh
index 97f58a3..2f325ce 100755
--- a/fan_speed.sh
+++ b/fan_speed.sh
@@ -117,6 +117,11 @@ selftest() {
   # leak is what let the setpoint drift 32 -> 36 -> 31 on iz-pve0.
   check "re-assert re-pushes held value" 32 "$(next_fan_speed 34 32)"
 
+  echo "ramp/alarm ordering (full cooling must arrive no later than the alarm):"
+  ramp_ordering_ok 8 5 && check "full at limit-8, alarm at limit-5" ok ok || check "full at limit-8, alarm at limit-5" ok bad
+  ramp_ordering_ok 5 5 && check "full and alarm coincide"           ok ok || check "full and alarm coincide" ok bad
+  ramp_ordering_ok 2 5 && check "full at limit-2 is rejected"       bad ok || check "full at limit-2 is rejected" bad bad
+
   echo "alert rate limiting:"
   local out
   out=$( { raise_alert testkey "first" "body"; raise_alert testkey "second" "body"; } | grep -c '^MAIL\[' )
@@ -210,6 +215,7 @@ fi
 #######################################
 # Read every drive's own temperature limit once - they do not change, and
 # smartctl -x is far heavier than the -A used on the fast loop.
+check_ramp_ordering
 cache_disk_limits
 echo "Monitoring $DISK_COUNT_EXPECTED disk(s)."
 LAST_SMART_CHECK=0
diff --git a/monitor.sh b/monitor.sh
index b61a56e..ef7bdda 100644
--- a/monitor.sh
+++ b/monitor.sh
@@ -29,8 +29,29 @@ DISK_RAMP_HIGH_OFFSET=${DISK_RAMP_HIGH_OFFSET:-8}
 
 # A drive this close to its own limit raises an alarm - the fans are already
 # flat out for it and it is still climbing.
+#
+# That sentence is only true if full fan speed is reached at or before the alarm
+# point, i.e. DISK_RAMP_HIGH_OFFSET >= DISK_ALARM_OFFSET. Set the other way round
+# the alarm mails you while there is still cooling left unused, which is exactly
+# backwards. check_ramp_ordering() enforces it at startup.
 DISK_ALARM_OFFSET=${DISK_ALARM_OFFSET:-5}
 
+# True when full cooling is reached no later than the alarm point.
+ramp_ordering_ok() {
+  [ "${1:-$DISK_RAMP_HIGH_OFFSET}" -ge "${2:-$DISK_ALARM_OFFSET}" ]
+}
+
+# Clamp rather than refuse to start - a fan controller that exits leaves the
+# fans wherever they were, which is worse than a slightly wrong curve.
+check_ramp_ordering() {
+  if ! ramp_ordering_ok; then
+    echo "/!\\ DISK_RAMP_HIGH_OFFSET ($DISK_RAMP_HIGH_OFFSET) is below DISK_ALARM_OFFSET ($DISK_ALARM_OFFSET):" >&2
+    echo "    the alarm would fire before the fans reach full speed. Raising it to $DISK_ALARM_OFFSET." >&2
+    log_line "config: raised DISK_RAMP_HIGH_OFFSET $DISK_RAMP_HIGH_OFFSET -> $DISK_ALARM_OFFSET"
+    DISK_RAMP_HIGH_OFFSET=$DISK_ALARM_OFFSET
+  fi
+}
+
 # Drives report their limit but do not agree on what it means: Samsung and
 # Kioxia report a true operating maximum (70), Toshiba and Seagate report 60,
 # WD Reds report 85 - the SCT critical limit, not an operating maximum.