Mechanical or Electrical Problem?

Ryuk1990

Last summer, I was taking apart a fan because it wasn't working. It turned as I expected that it was a burned out motor.

Now one of my co-workers was a little upset at me because I had called it an electrical problem or failure. He said a burned out motor is a mechanical failure.

Was he right?

UniverseAlien

I call it, mechanical problem, due to electrical failure.

berkeman

It could be either. If the fan stuck for some reason, that can cause the motor to burn out. So a mechanical failure like a stuck bearing can cause the electrical failure of the windings shorting out.

Or the windings can just short out on their own (as the motor gets old and the insulation on the windings gets less effective), so that's an electrical failure.