The short answer
A dishwasher smells because something organic is being kept warm and damp inside it, and there are only a few places that can be. This is commercial-duty food-service equipment installed in a kitchen or a bar rather than a home, and its duty cycle is one no domestic machine sees, so most of what goes wrong is water quality, chemical supply and maintenance rather than component failure. That is why "filter and sump holding food debris" heads the ranking on this page, while "door gasket and the door edge carrying a biofilm" sits at the bottom of it. The most likely answer is something you can check and often correct yourself, so work down this list before booking anyone.
What you are actually seeing
- A stale or sour smell when the door is opened
- A drain smell that is worse after the machine has stood unused
- A smell that transfers onto clean dishes
- Black or pink deposit around the door gasket
- A film inside the tub that feels greasy
- Not this fault: water is standing in the base — Means: a drain fault, which will also smell — See: brama-dishwasher-drainage-failure
- Not this fault: the dishes come out dirty as well as smelling — Means: a wash-performance fault — See: brama-dishwasher-cleaning-performance
Likely causes, most likely first
- Filter and sump holding food debris — Why here: first because it is where the smell comes from in the great majority of cases, and it is a few minutes of work — Confirmed by: visible debris in the filter and a smell that is strongest with the door just opened
- Grease film through the tub and spray arms — Why here: ranks here because low-temperature washing accumulates a film that holds odour and cannot be rinsed away — Confirmed by: a greasy feel on the tub walls, worst in a machine used mainly on eco or short cycles
- Drain hose or waste connection — Why here: a smell from outside the machine that gets blamed on the machine, and it is distinguished by when it is strongest — Confirmed by: the smell is worse after the machine has stood unused, and the sink smells too
- Standing water in the sump between cycles — Why here: last of the routine causes: it means a drain issue is already present, and the smell is its first symptom — Confirmed by: water covering the filter when the machine has been idle
- Door gasket and the door edge carrying a biofilm — Why here: the gasket stays wet between cycles and is rarely cleaned, so it grows what the tub does not — Confirmed by: a black or pink deposit in the gasket folds and along the bottom edge of the door
Check in this order
- Open the door and find where the smell is strongest — Because: the gasket, the sump and the waste smell differently and are reached differently
- Pull and inspect the filter — Because: it is the most likely single source and needs no tools
- Run a finger round the gasket folds and the bottom door edge — Because: a biofilm there survives every wash cycle the machine runs
- Check whether the sink smells too — Because: that moves the fault to the waste plumbing rather than the appliance
Owner checks, in order
- Remove the filter and scrap screen, wash them in hot soapy water with a brush, and clear the sump beneath them — Tools: a brush, washing-up liquid — Time: roughly half an hour
- Wipe the door gasket, the folds under it and the bottom edge of the door with a cloth and a mild cleaner — Tools: a cloth, a mild cleaner — Time: roughly half an hour
- Take out both spray arms, rinse them under a tap and clear the holes — Tools: a toothpick — Time: roughly half an hour
- Run the machine empty on its hottest cycle with a dishwasher cleaner — Tools: a machine cleaner — Time: an hour or more
- Leave the door ajar between cycles for a week and see whether the smell returns — Tools: none — Time: overnight
- Stop condition: Stop before any test that would put a meter on live terminals.
Safety 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. Shut the water supply off at the isolation valve before touching a hose or a fitting. Water and a live cabinet are the two hazards here and they sit next to each other. A wash cycle heats the water well above what is safe to touch. Let the machine stand after a cycle before reaching into the tub.
When to call a technician
the smell returns within days of a full clean water is standing in the sump between cycles the smell is coming from the waste connection rather than the machine
serviced under contract by a food-service engineer, against a daily and weekly routine the operator manual defines
Nearest pages
What this page does not cover
This page is generalized across every dishwasher sold under the Brama name; it does not cover a specific family, model or serial range, and it carries no part number for your unit. Where a page exists for a narrower scope than this one it is linked below, and it takes precedence over anything written here.
Links down: - [Common BRAMA Dishwasher Problems](/blog/brama-dishwasher-problems) - [BRAMA Dishwasher: Will Not Start or No Power](/blog/brama-dishwasher-wont-start) - [BRAMA Dishwasher: Not Heating](/blog/brama-dishwasher-heating-failure) - [BRAMA Dishwasher: Will Not Drain](/blog/brama-dishwasher-drainage-failure) - [BRAMA Dishwasher: Water Leak](/blog/brama-dishwasher-water-leak) - [BRAMA Dishwasher: Abnormal Noise or Vibration](/blog/brama-dishwasher-abnormal-noise)
Related pages
- Common BRAMA Dishwasher Problems
- BRAMA Dishwasher: Will Not Start or No Power
- BRAMA Dishwasher: Not Heating
- BRAMA Dishwasher: Will Not Drain
- BRAMA Dishwasher: Water Leak
- BRAMA Dishwasher: Abnormal Noise or Vibration
- BRAMA Dishwasher: Door, Latch or Seal Fault
- BRAMA Dishwasher: Controls, Display or Error Code
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
