The short answer
When a BPW washer makes a new noise, establish whether it happens on fill, on wash or on spin. Those three moments belong to different parts of the machine and telling them apart costs nothing, which is why it comes before any other check on this family.
What you observe
- A squeal that rises with drum speed — A belt or a bearing, where the model uses a belt.
- Loud only during the spin — Balance, footing or something loose. The spin is the only part of the cycle with enough energy to make the rest audible.
- A grinding or scraping that follows the drum — Something hard between the drum and the tub, or caught in the pump.
- A rhythmic thump at low speed — A load gathered on one side. It is the machine telling you it could not redistribute, not that a part has failed.
Causes, most likely first
- The machine out of level or standing on a floor that gives — First on this family. A light chassis has nothing to damp a spin that is even slightly out of true, so one foot off the floor turns an ordinary load into a machine that walks and drums.
- A coin, wire or button loose between drum and tub — Hard objects escape a pocket, pass the drum lip and then ride around scraping. It is a distinctive metallic sound that follows the drum exactly, and it will damage the tub if it is left there.
- A load gathered on one side — Second. A small drum concentrates an unbalanced load far more than a large one, so a single heavy item or a sheet that has wrapped will produce a thump the whole house hears without anything being wrong with the machine.
- Debris at the drain pump impeller — The pump sits low and takes everything the drum lets go. A hair pin or a fragment of a garment against the impeller gives a grind or a buzz only while the machine is draining.
Check in this order
- Check every foot is carrying weight, with a level across the top — Second because it is free and because it is the leading cause on this family.
- Confirm any transit restraint has been removed and stored — Last of the free checks, and the first one worth doing on a machine that has never been quiet.
- Open the pump filter or access flap and look at what is in it — Worth doing while the machine is off anyway, because debris here explains a noise heard only during draining.
- Run a spin with the drum completely empty — Noise with an empty drum is the machine; noise only with a load is balance.
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. Turn the water off at the taps before pulling the machine out, and be ready for the drain hose to give up what is still in it.
Models in the BPW family — The models this page covers, as the product spine lists them. With one model in the family, what you find on it is simply what the platform does.
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| BPW30MW | black-decker:washer:bpw |
When to call
Call if the noise is a squeal that rises with drum speed, or if there is a smell of hot rubber after a spin. Both point at the drive rather than at the load.
Other faults on this family
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
