Sam Brown
In the realm of appliance repair, mechanical and electrical failure mean two distinct things.
An electrical failure is a failure in the component’s circuitry that prevents it from operating how it’s supposed to. A burnt solder joint, a broken wire, an open motor winding — these are all electrical failures that can be discovered through electrical tests, even in situations where you can’t see them physically.
A mechanical failure, on the other hand, is when the component has physically failed in some way that may or may not affect it electrically. For example, if a pump has become jammed with debris, the motor will still pass current and try to spin, but it won’t be able to because of the mechanical failure.