Oooooh!
@Mr Twingo great article! I'll need to print that one for my reference notebook.
But there's one thing that wasn't mentioned, an old wall outlet that is worn out allowing the plug to slip in and out of the socket easily and a bit loosely. When this is an issue appliances can seem to work fine for quite some time and then suddenly the electricity arcs between the two poles and Boom! Death or damage to the appliance.
A friend blew out two hair dryers before she mentioned it to me and I explained.
This time is likely the motor, but it would be a shame to replace anything and have the outlet be the issue.