The short answer
On the Black Decker BD refrigerator a cabinet that runs but will not cool is usually heat that cannot get out of the cabinet rather than cold that is not being made. The BD table covers several distinct stems, so the same handful of checks apply across the whole model list below and in the same order.
What you observe
- The cabinet is warm and the compressor is plainly running — The hum is there, the sides feel warm near the coil, and the air inside is not cold.
- One compartment holds and the other does not — A freezer at or below 0 °F (−18 °C) over a fridge that will not reach 40 °F (4 °C) is the classic airflow split on these cabinets.
- The run never ends — The compressor cycles rarely or not at all and the cabinet still climbs.
- NEAR MISS — nothing runs and nothing is cold — Silence with no light and no fan is a supply, cord or start-device fault and belongs on the page for a unit that will not start.
Causes, most likely first on the BD family
- A condenser that cannot shed its heat — Ranked first here — the BD table covers several distinct stems — and these cabinets reject heat through a coil that sits where dust, lint and pet hair collect. Once it is blanketed, the compressor runs on and the cabinet drifts up a few degrees at a time.
- Placement and clearance — Second, and the one owners never suspect: a unit built into a cupboard, pressed to a wall or standing beside a cooker is being asked to dump heat into air that is already hot. The symptom is seasonal — fine in winter, failing every summer.
- Door seal and how the cabinet is loaded — Third. A gasket that has taken a set, a door that no longer self-closes, or shelves packed tight against the vents each add load the coil has to carry on top of everything above.
- Frost at the evaporator, fan, or the sealed system — Last as a group, because on this platform they are what remains once heat rejection has been cleared — and the sealed system, alone among them, is licensed work rather than an owner fix.
Check in this order, and why
- Put a hand on the condenser after a long run — It should be clearly warm.
- Measure the gap around the cabinet — Second because it costs nothing and because a unit with no clearance will repeat this fault whatever part you fit.
- Clean the coil and repeat the run — Only after the first two, so the clean is a test and not a guess: a cabinet that recovers overnight has told you the answer.
- Now look inside for frost and listen for the fan — Left to last deliberately — with heat rejection cleared, frost or a silent fan means something different from what it would have meant first.
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. The sealed system is not owner work: never cut, bend or puncture tubing, and never try to top up refrigerant.
Models in the BD family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| BD-236 | black-decker:refrigerator:bd |
| BD-275 | black-decker:refrigerator:bd |
| BD-85 | black-decker:refrigerator:bd |
| BD305 | black-decker:refrigerator:bd |
| BD350 | black-decker:refrigerator:bd |
| BD450 | black-decker:refrigerator:bd |
| BD550 | black-decker:refrigerator:bd |
| BD650 | black-decker:refrigerator:bd |
When to call a technician
Call once the owner checks are clean, or straight away if the compressor clicks in and out every few minutes, if the coil never becomes warm anywhere along its length, or if you find oil around the tubing — oil outside the pipework means the system is open and every further hour of running makes the repair bigger. Call too if the cabinet will not hold food at 40 °F (4 °C) and you cannot restore that within a day: at that point the food, not the appliance, sets the deadline.
Other faults covered for the BD family
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
