The short answer
Start here. On this refrigerator, a noise locked to the compressor cycle is behind the cabinet, which removes everything inside it from the list. Behind-the-cabinet causes are mostly owner-fixable with the unit unplugged; the compressor body itself is not.
What you actually see
- A buzz that rises and falls — A tone that changes pitch is almost always a fan blade touching something, not an electrical noise.
- A clicking every few minutes with no run — Click, silence, click again is the overload protector cycling and it is a fault, not a noise.
- A hum you can feel through the floor — Vibration transmitted into a floor is usually the cabinet, the feet or the surface under it rather than the machine.
Causes, ranked for this refrigerator
- Condenser fan blade fouled or worn — Top of the list: it runs whenever the compressor runs, which is why the noise seems to follow the compressor and gets blamed on it. Getting a definite answer here is worth more than a quick look at the three below it.
- Drip tray loose in its channel — Next: the tray is a light plastic part sitting near the compressor, and once it slides out of its channel it buzzes against the frame. If this is the answer, the rest of the list stops mattering entirely.
- Something touching the back of the cabinet — Then: on a small unit the back is crowded, so any item stored behind or beside the cabinet ends up in contact with a part that vibrates. Where this checks out clean, treat the next entry as the working theory rather than a possibility.
What to check, in order
- First — the condenser fan — Unplug the unit and turn the blade by hand. Grit, a wobble or a dragging point tells you what you are hearing.
- Second — the drip tray under the cabinet — Wedge a folded cloth beside the tray for a minute as a test. If the noise stops, you have found it.
Checks an owner can do safely
- Step 1. Identify when the noise happens — Stand by the unit and note whether the sound starts with the compressor, runs all the time, or arrives on a schedule. That single observation removes most of the list.
Tools: noneAbout 10 min
- Step 2. Seat the drip tray — Reach under the back with the unit unplugged and check the tray is square in its channel. Reseat it if it moves under one finger.
Tools: flashlightAbout 10 min
- Step 3. Look for ice at the evaporator fan — Empty the freezer section and inspect the inner rear panel. Ice reaching the fan opening explains a grinding sound that stops when the door opens.
Tools: flashlightAbout 15 min
Before you open anything
Safety
Disconnect power at the plug or the breaker before opening anything. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off, which is why a panel that has been dead for a minute is still treated as live. If a check requires the unit running, that check is not an owner check.
When this becomes a service call
The line is not about confidence, it is about what the next step needs. If levelling, clearing and reseating change nothing and the sound tracks the compressor exactly, the next step needs the machine running with panels off, which is not an owner task.
Sources
General guidance- The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) — OSHA 1910.147 and manufacturer service manuals, fetched
Nearest pages
What this page does not cover
This is the general page. It applies to Black+Decker refrigerators broadly and deliberately avoids anything that would only be true of one family or one production run — board revisions, part numbers, code tables and torque figures all belong a level down. Where such a page exists it takes precedence over this one, and Related pages is where to find it.
Related pages
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
