Where Do I Get Replacement Hot and Cold Handles for My Walk-In Tub Faucet?

Replacement hot and cold handles for an Ella faucet come from your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850, and the quickest route is a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support with your faucet type and a photo. Handles in each finish, handle caps, indicator buttons and set screws are small stock parts, so they are matched to your faucet from that photo. If your handle is loose rather than broken or lost, start with Why Does My Faucet Handle Keep Falling Off?, because the fix is often a bolt you can simply snug.

Identify the Faucet on Your Tub Deck First

Handles are matched to the faucet set, so the first job is knowing which set you have. Ella tubs have carried several deck faucets over the years, and each one holds its handles in a different way.

• 2-piece fast-fill faucet. This set has a single lever on top of the spout. You lift it for on, move it left for hot and right for cold, and push it down for off, and a diverter button under the spout sends water to the hand shower. The Zen, Zen60 and Flow come with this set.
• 5-piece fast-fill faucet. This set has a separate red hot handle and blue cold handle with a diverter lever between them. The Standard and Standard60 come with this set, and on your paperwork the code 5P-FFF means the 5-piece set.
• Thermostatic set. This is a third faucet type. The published handle guides cover the 2-piece and 5-piece sets, so if you have a thermostatic set, send a photo through a ticket before you take anything apart.
• Huntington Brass faucet on older tubs. This is a Roman tub filler with separate hot and cold lever handles and a deck spout. Look for the Huntington Brass name on the faucet body or escutcheons. Handles for this faucet follow a different route, explained further down.

If you are not sure which of the two current sets you have, What Is a Fast-Fill Faucet on a Walk-In Tub? describes how each one looks and works. Check your paperwork for a finish suffix too. A suffix such as BN means brushed nickel, and that is worth noting because handles are stocked in each finish.

Work Out Which Piece Is Actually Missing

A faucet handle is a small assembly, not a single part. Very often the handle itself is fine and the piece that has gone missing is the bolt or the cap that sits on top of it. Knowing exactly which piece you need means the right one is matched the first time.

• On the 2-piece faucet, the spout handle is held to the cartridge stem by an Allen bolt, and that bolt is hidden under a decorative bolt cover on top of the handle. The handle carries the hot and cold marking, with the red side on the left for hot and the blue on the right for cold.
• On the 5-piece faucet, each red or blue handle is held by its own Allen bolt under its colored cap, and a plastic collar sits under each handle.
• On either set, the hot and cold indicator button and the cap or cover can pop off on their own, and the bolt behind them can follow.

Pop the cover or cap off and look for the Allen bolt in the top of the handle. If the bolt is there, the handle may only need tightening. If the handle came off and you still have it, you may need only a bolt and a cap. If the handle is cracked, lost or the wrong finish, ask for the handle itself and say whether it is the hot side, the cold side or both.

How to Request the Parts

1. Take a clear photo of the faucet on your deck, including the handle or the bare stem where the handle used to sit.
2. Note your faucet type: 2-piece single lever, 5-piece with red and blue handles, or the thermostatic set. Add the finish if you know it.
3. Find your serial number. It is on the label behind the magnetic access panel next to the door. If you cannot find it, say so and the team will help identify your tub.
4. List the pieces you need, for example the hot handle, the blue cap, the Allen bolt or the plastic collar.
5. Open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support, or call your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850, and share the photo and the list.

Ella's Lifetime Limited Warranty covers the faucet and fixtures on a parts basis, while non-Ella brand faucets carry only their manufacturer's warranty. The support team verifies coverage for your tub and the parts ship to you. Ella does not send technicians, so any labor is done locally, and a licensed plumber can fit the handle if you would rather not do it yourself.

Fitting the New Handle When It Arrives

One 3 mm Allen wrench fits the handle bolt on both Ella fast-fill faucets, as covered in What size Allen wrench removes the handles on an Ella walk-in tub faucet?. You do not need to go any deeper than the handle. The 17 mm socket wrench listed for the 5-piece set is only for the cartridge underneath.

• 2-piece faucet. Seat the handle on top of the cartridge stem, tighten the Allen bolt securely without over torquing, and replace the bolt cover. Check that the red side is on the left for hot and the blue is on the right for cold.
• 5-piece faucet. Confirm the plastic collar is in place under the handle, set the handle so it faces the correct position, tighten the Allen bolt and press the red or blue cap back on.

The two-piece cartridge video on this page shows these steps on a deck-mounted faucet. You can watch the bolt cover come off, the 3 mm Allen wrench loosen the bolt, the spout handle lift away, and the handle go back on with the red side on the left.

A new handle is not always the real fix. If the old handle squeaks or feels rough, that points to debris or calcification on the cartridge underneath, which can often be cleaned with a soft brush and a rinse. If the part that keeps falling out is the diverter lever on your shower column, that lever is held by a set screw in its threaded portion, so send a photo of the lever and its screw so the team can confirm the right one.

If Your Older Tub Has a Huntington Brass Faucet

The Roman tub filler Ella distributed on older walk-in tubs was the Huntington Brass model HB9937-C. Huntington Brass faucets have since been discontinued at Ella, and Ella did not carry alternative handle styles or replacement cartridges for that faucet. For new handles, stems or cartridges, contact Huntington Brass customer service directly and quote the faucet model. They can tell you whether a different handle style fits the same valve body.

Ella's technical support can still help you confirm which faucet is on your tub from clear photos of the handles, the spout and the connections under the deck. That check matters because Huntington Brass parts and Ella faucet parts are not the same, and the hoses do not interchange. The full background is in Handles, Cartridges and Hoses for the Huntington Brass Faucet on Older Ella Tubs. Once the parts arrive, a local licensed plumber can fit them as routine work.

Watch: Ellas Bubbles: Two Piece Faucet Cartridge Replacement with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Faucet drips or the handle feels stiff: replacing your faucet cartridge step by step
• 5-Piece Faucet: Water Keeps Flowing With the Valve Off, Low Pressure, Handle Replacements and Finish Options

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