Does Auto Purge Run if the Tub Is Off at the GFCI Breaker?

No. Auto Purge needs electricity to run, so once the tub's dedicated GFCI breakers are switched off at the panel, the air pump cannot start and the purge cycle does not happen. As long as the tub has power, an air massage tub will run its 120 second purge about 20 minutes after the air was switched off, which is why How Do I Turn the Jets Off in an Emergency? reminds you to expect it once the emergency is over. Cutting the breaker is the one thing that keeps the purge from running, and it is also the safe first step whenever a blower will not stop on its own.

Why the Breaker Stops the Purge

Auto Purge is not a separate device with its own battery or timer. It is the same air pump that runs your air massage, started by the control box under the deck. About 20 minutes after you turn the air pump off, the control box switches the blower on again for 120 seconds to blow residual water out of the air lines, then stops it. Every part of that cycle, the timing in the control box and the blower itself, runs on the tub's dedicated circuits. When you switch those breakers off, the control box loses power along with the pump, and nothing is left to start the purge. That is why the purge is described as something that runs as long as the tub has power: it cannot be cancelled from the deck, but it cannot run without electricity either.

The same rule covers the Test button on a GFCI outlet within reach. Pressing Test trips the outlet and removes power from whatever is plugged into it, so a purge cannot start from a tripped outlet. On the largest tubs the equipment is spread across more than one circuit. The Shak and Big4One schematic calls for three wall outlets, each GFCI protected, on a dedicated line, 20 amp, 120 volt, and the air pump is only one of the loads divided among them. Switching off a single breaker on a tub like that removes power from part of the equipment stack, so if your goal is to keep everything off, switch off every breaker that serves the tub. The Shak and Big4One digital schematic shows how those loads are laid out.

What Happens to the Water in the Air Lines

The purge exists for a reason. After an air bath, a little water flows back into the air piping and the jets on the floor and seat. If it sat there, it could grow mold and mildew. The 120 second burst of air pushes that water back out through the jets. If you cut the breaker before the purge has run, the water stays in the lines for as long as the power is off. That is not an emergency, but it does mean the lines were not dried after that bath.

Ella does not publish whether the countdown picks up where it left off once power is restored, so do not count on a missed purge running later. The reliable way to clear the lines is simply your next air bath. Turning the air pump off is what starts the 20 minute countdown, so when that bath ends and you switch the air off, a fresh purge follows on its own. On the push controls the first press is high speed, the second is medium, the third is low, and the fourth turns the air off. On the digital touchpad, touch the air icon once to start and hold it for two seconds to turn it off. Let the purge finish, then drain and exit normally. The monthly vinegar flush of 2 cups white vinegar and 2 cups water, with the tub filled to 1 inch above the highest jets and the jets run for 10 minutes, remains the deeper clean for every jetted line; neither the purge nor the ozone system replaces it.

When Cutting the Breaker Is the Right Call

• A blower that keeps running past 120 seconds, or a purge that comes on twice in the same hour, is not the purge at all. It is the control box failing to shut the air pump off. Switch the tub off at the breaker so the blower stops, then follow Why Won't My Tub Stop Purging? for the control box reset.
• An air pump plugged straight into the wall outlet instead of the outlet on top of the blue control box runs continuously by design. The breaker stops it, but it will not behave until it is moved to the box.
• Rattling, a loud bang, or a burning smell from any pump. Switch the tub off at the breaker and leave it off until it has been checked.
• A wish to remove all power at once during an emergency. That is done at the breaker panel, never on the deck, and because the tub runs on its own dedicated circuits nothing else in the house goes dark.

What the breaker is not for is silencing a normal purge because it startled you. The cycle is normal, runs once, and stops on its own. If it starts while you are still in the tub there is no need to get out, and if you would like to leave while it runs, drain and exit as usual. Cutting power just to quiet it leaves water sitting in the lines.

Telling a Normal Purge from a Fault

Time it. One burst of air roughly 20 minutes after the air massage was turned off, lasting about two minutes, is normal even if the tub has already drained and even if you are still sitting in it. The tub sounds as if it is still running, but it is only the purge doing its job, and it is one of the expected sounds described in Why Does My Walk-In Tub Make a Buzzing or Hissing Noise?. Anything longer, or a repeat within the hour, is a fault, and that is when the breaker comes first.

Remember also which tubs have a purge at all. Any Ella tub ordered with the three-speed air massage has Auto Purge, whether the air came alone, as Hydro plus Air, or in a triple package. Hydro-only and soaking tubs, including the Standard, Standard60, Zen, Zen60 and Flow, have no air blower and therefore no purge cycle, so there is never a reason to cut power on those tubs waiting for one. The full picture of the cycle is in What Is Auto Purge on a Walk-In Tub?.

What to Have Ready If You Open a Ticket

If the blower runs continuously instead of stopping after 120 seconds, if a purge never seems to happen after an air bath, or if a control will not stop its function, leave the breaker off and open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support or call your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850. Include your serial number, which function was running, whether the GFCI tripped, and a photo of the blue control box with its cords and air tubes. With that in hand the team can confirm whether the air pump, the control box, or the way the pump is plugged in is the cause, and a control box that will not reset is a warranty part.

Related Guides

• Why Isn't the Auto Purge Running on My Tub?
• My walk-in tub turned on by itself: the air massage Auto-Purge is normal

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