The short answer
On the Black Decker BUC freezer an unfamiliar noise is usually a normal machine being amplified by the floor and the room. BUC is a broad code rather than one design, so the same four checks apply across the model list below, and three of them are free.
What you observe
- A hum that is louder in the next room than beside the cabinet — Vibration passing into the floor and the structure.
- A rattle that starts and stops exactly with the compressor — Something loose being shaken by a part behaving normally: a basket, a lid stay, a tray or a panel screw.
- A steady rising whirr that ignores everything — A bearing.
- Gurgles, clicks and shell noise after the machine stops — Refrigerant settling and steel contracting.
- NEAR MISS — noise plus a cabinet that is also warming — Then the noise is a symptom of a cooling fault and the cooling page comes first.
Causes, most likely first on the BUC family
- Levelling, feet and the floor itself — First on this family — BUC is a broad code rather than one design — and a cabinet this heavy on an uneven floor rocks minutely with every compressor start. On a suspended floor that hum carries through the building far better than it carries across the room.
- Contact with walls, cabinetry or a neighbouring appliance — Second: a side panel touching a worktop turns a shell into a soundboard. Pull the unit a hand's width clear and the note changes immediately if this is the cause.
- Loose baskets, lids, trays and panel fixings — Third — the cheapest cause of all, and the one that produces the most alarming noises for the least mechanical reason.
- Fan or compressor bearing wear — Last, and the only one that is a genuine fault. It is steady, it rises with running time, and it is indifferent to where the cabinet stands or what is inside it.
Check in this order, and why
- Rock the cabinet by its corners — First because any movement at all explains the noise before you have spent a minute, and levelling is free.
- Pull it clear of everything it touches and run it — Second: a noise that halves in open space was being made by the kitchen, not the appliance.
- Empty it and remove the baskets — Third — this separates contents noise from cabinet noise, and a surprising share of complaints end here.
- Now listen for what is left and time it against the cycle — Last: anything that survives all three checks and rises with running time is the bearing, and that is the one worth paying for.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel — a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Keep fingers away from a fan that may restart by itself, and never run the cabinet with a shroud or a rear panel removed. Empty a chest cabinet before moving it: loaded, it is heavier than it looks, and walking it on its corners is how tubing gets pushed against the shell.
Models in the BUC family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| BUC1100XB | black-decker:freezer:buc |
| BUC1100XS | black-decker:freezer:buc |
| BUC1100XW | black-decker:freezer:buc |
| BUC1400XS | black-decker:freezer:buc |
| BUC1700XB | black-decker:freezer:buc |
| BUC1700XS | black-decker:freezer:buc |
| BUC1700XW | black-decker:freezer:buc |
| BUC2100JB | black-decker:freezer:buc |
| BUC2100JS | black-decker:freezer:buc |
| BUC2100JW | black-decker:freezer:buc |
| BUC2120M* | black-decker:freezer:buc |
When to call a technician
Call when the noise is steady, rises with running time, and survives levelling, clearance and an empty cabinet — that is bearing wear and it only goes one way. Call immediately if the noise arrives with a burning smell, with a cabinet that is also warming, or with a compressor that clicks in and out every few minutes.
Other faults covered for the BUC family
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
