How Do I Replace the Cartridge in My Walk-In Tub Faucet?

How you replace a faucet cartridge on an Ella walk-in tub depends on which faucet your tub was built with. On the Ella 2-piece and 5-piece Fast-Fill faucets, each handle sits on its own cartridge that comes out with an Allen wrench and, on the 5-piece, a socket wrench, and the two videos on this page show every step. On a thermostatic faucet package the cartridge lives inside the Thermostatic Control Valve, and the full cleaning procedure, including when the whole valve is replaced, is in Temperature Control Valve (TCV) Stuck or Not Mixing: Cleaning the Cartridge and Replacing the Valve.

First, Find Out Which Faucet You Have

Ella has shipped three faucet layouts that use a replaceable cartridge, and the job is different on each one. Your order paperwork names the faucet package, and the team at (800) 480-6850 can confirm the configuration from your serial number if you are unsure.

• 2-piece Fast-Fill faucet. A spout with a single mixing handle on top. One cartridge sits inside the spout housing under that handle, with a red mark on the left for hot and a blue mark on the right for cold.
• 5-piece Fast-Fill faucet. A separate hot valve, cold valve and diverter, each with its own handle, plus the spout and the pull-out hand shower. The hot and cold handles wear red and blue caps and each one sits on its own cartridge.
• Thermostatic faucet package. A Thermostatic Control Valve with a temperature dial and a button on the control handle, plus two diverters. The thermostatic cartridge inside blends hot and cold to the setting you choose.

The Fast-Fill faucets are non-thermostatic, so their cartridges open and close water the way a conventional tub faucet does and the temperature is set at the handles. The TCV cartridge does the mixing itself, which is why it is the part that collects calcium and iron from the supply and the one most often cleaned or replaced.

Before You Start

• Close both shut off valves at the tub so neither the hot nor the cold line is under pressure.
• Gather a 3 mm Allen wrench for the handle bolt. The 5-piece faucet also needs a 17 mm socket wrench for the cartridge itself. These are the tool sizes used in the videos, because the faucet hardware is metric.
• Keep a soft brush handy. If the cartridge is scaled up rather than worn out, a cleaning may be all it needs.
• Take a photo of the faucet before the first part comes off, so the handle goes back facing the right way.
• Every tightening step in both videos ends the same way: snug, never over torqued. Over tightening is the one mistake the videos warn against again and again.

A handy homeowner, a handyman or a local licensed plumber does this work. Ella does not send technicians, but free lifetime technical support is available by phone or ticket if a question comes up mid-job.

Replacing the Cartridge on the 2-Piece Fast-Fill Faucet

The first video shows the complete sequence on the 2-piece faucet.

1. Remove the decorative bolt cover on the spout handle.
2. Insert the 3 mm Allen wrench, loosen the Allen bolt and lift the spout handle straight off.
3. Unscrew and remove the escutcheon plate.
4. Loosen and remove the brass locking collar.
5. Lift the cartridge out of the spout housing.
6. Set the new cartridge in place so its two guide posts line up with the receptacles in the spout housing. It seats correctly only when both posts are in the right position.
7. Replace the brass locking collar and tighten it securely without over torquing.
8. Replace the escutcheon plate and tighten it by hand.
9. Set the handle back on top of the cartridge, tighten the Allen bolt securely without over torquing, and press the bolt cover back on.

Check the orientation when you finish: red on the left for hot, blue on the right for cold. If the colors are reversed, the cartridge went in with the guide posts in the wrong receptacles and needs to be lifted and reseated.

Replacing or Cleaning the Cartridge on the 5-Piece Fast-Fill Faucet

The second video covers the 5-piece faucet, where each of the hot and cold handles has its own cartridge. Because the valves are separate, you only open the handle that is giving trouble.

1. Pop off the red or blue cap on the handle you are working on.
2. Loosen the bolt under the cap with the 3 mm Allen wrench and lift off the handle.
3. Remove the plastic collar under the handle.
4. Loosen the cartridge with the 17 mm socket wrench and remove it.
5. Check the cartridge and the valve body for debris, foreign objects or calcification. If you are cleaning rather than replacing, scrub gently with a soft brush and rinse.
6. Replace the cartridge and tighten it, without over torquing.
7. Replace the plastic collar, set the handle back on facing the correct direction, tighten the Allen bolt firmly without over torquing, and snap the colored cap back on.

Cleaning or Replacing the Cartridge in a Thermostatic Faucet

On a TCV the cartridge collects calcium, iron and sediment from the supply, and a fouled cartridge is behind most temperature complaints on these faucets. The team shares a video that walks through the cleaning on an existing valve, and in outline it runs like this.

1. Shut off the water supply to the tub.
2. Remove the control handle and the cover plate.
3. Remove the washers and the escutcheon plate, then unscrew the metal collar.
4. Remove the cartridge and clean the intake screens and the cartridge of calcification.
5. Reassemble without over torquing, restore the supply and test through the full range of the dial.

Keep the button on the control handle. It is essential to adjusting the temperature; without it you lose about half of the temperature range, and adjusting the governor will not make up the difference, so mention a missing button when you contact the team. If cleaning does not restore mixing, the cartridge is replaced with a new one, and if the valve itself has failed, the whole TCV is replaced.

Match the symptom before you start, because not every TCV problem is the cartridge:

• Water that is only scalding or only cold, with no warm in between, points to the cartridge. See Tub Fills Only Scalding or Only Cold and Will Not Mix to Warm.
• Water hotter than the dial setting, measured at the spout with a bath thermometer, is also a fouled cartridge; Why Is the Water in My Walk-In Tub Too Hot? covers the checks.
• Hot water no matter where the dial sits, with pressure on the cold line and a clean inlet screen, is the check valve at the cold inlet rather than the cartridge. Cold Water Reaches the Tub but Will Not Come Out of the Faucet: Unlocking the TCV Check Valve explains how a plumber frees it.
• Hot water disappearing elsewhere in the house while the tub sits idle is a crossover, usually a fouled cartridge or a missing blue check valve in the hand shower head. Start with Why Does the Mixing Valve Cross Hot and Cold When the Tub Is Off?.

Warranty, Replacement Parts and the Inline Filter

The TCV carries a 1-year limited warranty and is excluded from the lifetime parts warranty. Cartridge fouling caused by calcium, iron or contaminated water is not a covered defect, and an inline filter or mesh must be fitted on the supply lines and cleaned periodically to protect the cartridge. Within the first year, a TCV that fails is replaced under the warranty once the team verifies it from your photos and serial number. After the first year, a replacement valve is available as a paid part through your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850.

Other Ella faucet parts fall under the published lifetime limited parts warranty, which covers parts only. Ella ships the part after verification, and a local licensed plumber or a handy homeowner does the labor. To request a cartridge, open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support with your serial number, the faucet type, a description of the symptom and a photo of the faucet. Include the best number to reach you, since tech support will call to talk through the diagnosis.

If cleaning the thermostatic cartridge becomes a recurring chore in a hard water area, tech support may suggest switching to the 5-piece Fast-Fill faucet, which has no thermostatic cartridge to foul. It mixes with manual hot and cold handles and does not hold a set temperature on its own, so weigh that trade-off before deciding.

Related Guides

• Faucet drips or the handle feels stiff: replacing your faucet cartridge step by step
• Why Does My Faucet Handle Keep Falling Off?
• How Do I Remove the Faucet Handle Cover to Replace the Cartridge?

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