The short answer
On a BLACK+DECKER dishwasher, smell or mould most often comes down to food trapped in the filter and sump. The filter leads, with standing water close behind, because a compact machine drains into a sink line that is easy to kink and slow to clear. Most of what follows is an owner check; it becomes a service call when the smell returns within days of a full clean.
What you are actually seeing
- The entries at the end belong to a different fault and send you elsewhere.
- A stale or eggy smell when the door is opened.
- A dark film in the gasket folds or under the door lip.
- A smell that is worst after the machine has stood unused for days.
- If instead you see this: A burning or hot-plastic smell — that is electrical or a melted item on the heater, and it is not this page.
Ranked causes on a BLACK+DECKER dishwasher
- The filter leads, with standing water close behind, because a compact machine drains into a sink line that is easy to kink and slow to clear. Settle one observable question before you use this ranking — countertop or portable versus built-in: a faucet quick-connect or an internal reservoir, draining into the sink or an on-board tank, means countertop or portable, while a plumbed and hard-wired unit is built-in. Look at where the water and the exhaust go. A countertop or portable unit connects to a faucet with a quick-connect adapter or fills from an internal reservoir, and it drains into the sink or into an on-board tank. A built-in unit is plumbed and hard-wired in place. On countertop or portable units, the hookup is made and broken every use, so hookup faults dominate and cost nothing to fix; on built-in units, the hookup is fixed, so a fault that appears after months of good service is far more likely to be inside the machine.
- Food trapped in the filter and sump — Why: This is where nearly every dishwasher smell starts. Soft food debris held wet and warm between cycles turns within days.
- Standing water in the tub — Why: Waste water that never drained grows a biofilm within days, and the smell is a symptom of a drainage fault rather than of hygiene.
- Biofilm in the gasket folds and under the door lip — Why: The gasket channel and the lower door lip stay wet and never see the wash spray, so they build a black film that no cycle reaches.
- The drain hose, air gap or sink line — Why: A smell that comes and goes with sink use is coming from the shared drain, not from the machine. Without a high loop, sink odour vents straight into the tub.
What to check, and why in this order
- Free checks first, then the ones that need the machine opened.
- Clear and wash the filter and the sump first, because that is where the smell almost always begins.
- Then clean the gasket folds and the door lip by hand, since the wash spray never reaches them.
- Then check for standing water, which is a drainage fault wearing a smell as a symptom.
Checks you can safely do yourself
- Stop at the first step that would need a meter on live terminals.
- Remove the filter assembly, wash it in hot soapy water with a brush, and clean the sump beneath it by hand. — Number: 1 — Tools: washing-up brush, gloves, hot soapy water — Time: under half an hour
- Wipe out the gasket folds and the lip under the door with a cloth and a soft brush. This area never sees the wash spray and it is where the black film lives. — Number: 2 — Tools: cloth, old toothbrush — Time: under half an hour
- Bail out any standing water and note whether it returns, because a machine that will not drain cannot be made to stop smelling. — Number: 3 — Tools: cup, sponge — Time: under ten minutes
Before you start
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Nothing below asks you to put a meter on live terminals, and nothing below asks you to defeat a door switch or an interlock — those exist to cut power to something that would otherwise hurt you. If the plug, the cord or the outlet is warm, discoloured or smells hot, stop there and have the circuit looked at before you use the dishwasher again.
When to stop and call a technician
The line is whether the next step needs live testing, sealed-system access or a part you cannot verify. Call for anything behind the cabinet skin, and any repair whose part cost approaches what the appliance is worth, or when:
the smell returns within days of a full clean the tub holds standing water that will not clear the smell tracks the sink rather than the machine, which is plumbing rather than appliance work
What this page does not cover
Common BLACK+DECKER Dishwasher Problems (black-decker-dishwasher-problems)
This page is generalized across the BLACK+DECKER dishwasher range: it is written for the brand and the fault, not for one family or one model number. It carries no model-specific code table, wiring detail or part number, and no measured failure rate, because no measured snapshot was available here. Where a family- or model-specific page exists beneath this one, the links below go down to it.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
