Why are microbubbles and hydrotherapy separate items on my order?

Microbubble therapy and hydro massage are two separate systems inside an Ella walk-in tub, and that is why they appear as two items on your paperwork. Hydro massage is a hydro pump that pushes your bath water out through jets, while Infusion microbubble therapy is its own microbubble pump, pressure tank and push control, which Ella's component diagrams mark as an optional feature. The paperwork for your order breaks out each piece the tub is built with, in the same way Payment Options and Shipping Costs for Your Walk-In Tub Order explains that shipping is a separate line from the tub itself.

Two Systems, Two Pumps, Two Controls

Every Ella walk-in tub is ordered with one of five therapy packages: soaker, hydro massage, air plus hydro, hydro plus microbubbles, and hydro plus independent foot massage. Only the soaker has no jets. Notice that microbubbles never come on their own. The package that includes them is hydro massage plus the Infusion microbubble system, so a tub with microbubbles always carries the hydro pump as well, and each system is listed in its own right. Do Walk-In Tubs Come With Hydrotherapy Jets and Massage Features? walks through what each package does in the water.

The hydro massage item covers the water jet system. When you press the Water button, the hydro pump draws bath water in through the inlet cover and pushes it back out through jets aimed at the back, hips, legs and feet. The strength is set by the intensity dial on the deck, which is an air control on a small hose rather than an electrical part. Two things run automatically with the hydro pump: the ozone generator sterilizes the water as it circulates, and the in-line water heater holds the bath at the temperature you filled it. The video on this page shows that heater working with the water pump so the bath stays at the temperature you set on the fast-fill faucet.

The microbubble item covers different hardware. On Ella's component diagrams the Infusion Microbubbles system is its own numbered component with its own parts list: a microbubble pump, a pressure vessel and an ON/OFF button. On the LayDown diagram the legend is headed "Micro Bubble Therapy System (Optional Feature)" and the push control itself is marked "Optional". Pressing that control operates a relay switch, the relay starts the water pump, water goes to the microbubble pressure tank and returns to the bath through a single dedicated jet, separate from any air or hydro jets the tub may have. None of that equipment belongs to the hydro massage system, which is why it cannot be folded into the hydro item.

What Each Item Adds to the Tub

The table lists the systems as Ella's component diagrams print them, so you can match each item on your paperwork to the equipment it stands for.

What the rows mean for you: each system has its own pump and its own control, so each one is its own item. The hydro massage line and the microbubble line are not the same hardware counted twice. If your paperwork shows both, your tub will be built with the hydro pump and with the microbubble pump and pressure tank, and you will have two controls on the deck, one for each.

Why the Pump Count Tells the Story

The clearest way to see the split is to count pumps. On the Air + Hydro + Micro diagram, the triple therapy package, the tub has one seat hydro pump, one air pump and one microbubble water pump with its pressure tank. That keeps the pump count at three even though the bather enjoys three therapies, and What the Air + Hydro + Micro Schematic Shows explains that air and hydro are switched from the digital controller while the microbubble system keeps its own push control and relay. On the larger drawing for the Transfer60, TransferXXL and Ultimate, covered in What the Air + Hydro + Hydro Foot + Microbubble Schematic Shows, there are three water pumps: two hydro pumps, one for the seat and one for the feet, plus the microbubble pump. On that drawing the microbubble push control is marked "Optional: Infusion Microbubbles push control", reflecting that microbubbles are an added option on top of the massage systems.

The same extra equipment shows up in freight. The Ella Escape with microbubbles includes an extra motor, which adds to its shipping cost, and the diagrams show where that motor comes from: the microbubble pump that a hydro-only tub does not carry.

Which Tubs Can Carry Both

Not every model offers every package, so check that the combination on your paperwork is one your tub can be built with. The triple package diagram prints "Available On: Stainless Steel, Outward Door", meaning the inward-swing tubs with the brushed stainless steel and frosted glass door and the tubs with the plastic composite and tempered glass door that swings outward, and only the models within those families that offer the package use it. The Royal, a stainless steel door model, leads its spec sheet package list with "Hydro + Air + Thérapie par microbulles (LED Chromatherapy Light included)". The Standard and Standard60 ship hydro-only, with no air massage, no microbubble package and no soaker version. On LayDown tubs microbubble therapy is an add-on rather than a standard part of the tub, and What the LayDown Microbubble Schematic Shows puts it plainly: if your order paperwork does not list microbubble therapy, that diagram does not apply to your tub.

Reading Your Paperwork Before You Order

1. Find the therapy package line and confirm it names the package you chose. Hydro plus microbubbles is one of the five packages, and the microbubble system is shown with it.
2. Check that the microbubble item is present if you want microbubbles. On the LayDown and on the Transfer60, TransferXXL and Ultimate drawings it is an optional add-on, so it is not built in unless it is on the paperwork.
3. Look for shipping on its own line. The tub amount from your contractor or dealer does not include shipping, and freight is figured separately.
4. Place the order promptly after you receive the paperwork. Ella's Bubbles does not control freight rates, so the shipping portion can change if there is a gap between the paperwork and the order.
5. If anything is unclear, ask your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 before the tub is built, because every Ella tub is assembled and tested to order with the package on your paperwork.

Using Both Systems After Installation

Once the tub is in, the two items become two controls. Hydro massage starts from the Water button, or from the digital controller on the triple package, with the intensity dial beside it to make the massage firmer or softer. The microbubble system starts from its own Infusion Microbubbles push control, and on the LayDown that control is pneumatic: pressing the button sends a puff of air down a hose to a switch rather than closing an electrical contact at the button. Because the microbubble pump draws bath water in at its water inlet, run it only with the tub filled above the jets. The ozone generator sanitizes the water whenever the hydro pump circulates it, so the two systems work together in the same bath even though they are separate pieces of equipment on your order.

Watch: Ella's Bubbles: In-line Water Heater Maintains Comfortable Water Temperature with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• What the Hydro + Microbubble Schematic Shows: Two Pumps, a Pressure Tank, an LED Control Box and Two Dedicated Lines (Stainless and Outward Door Tubs)
• Thérapie par microbulles Infusion: What It Does and Which Tubs Offer It
• Hydro Massage vs Air Massage vs Microbubble: What Each System Does and How They Combine

Related Videos

Questions fréquentes