Control Box Has Power but Nothing Turns On: Where the Air Tube Connects

A green light on the control box tells you the box has power, but no pump or light will start until the puff of air from a deck button reaches its relay inside that box. Every push button on the deck has its own slim tube that runs down to a nipple on the control box, with separate nipples for the water pump button, the air blower button and the LED light button, and on tubs with a separate chromatherapy box the red light tube runs to that box instead. If you cannot see a tube, trace it from the locking nut on the back of the button. It has most likely popped off at one end, which is the most common reason a button goes quiet, as Why Does a Deck Push Button Do Nothing on My Walk-In Tub? explains.

Why a Powered Box Can Still Start Nothing

The deck buttons are pneumatic. Each chrome button is a small air pump, and pressing it squeezes a puff of air down a slim tube to the blue control box under the tub, where a relay clicks and switches the matching pump or the light. There is no electricity at the button, which is why a gentle press with the palm of your hand is all it needs and why pressing too hard can damage the mechanism inside. The power side is separate. The water pump and air pump cords plug into their labeled ports on the control box, and the control box power cord is what plugs into the dedicated GFCI outlet. So the green light proves only that the box is being fed. If the air signal never arrives, the relay never clicks and nothing runs. If the relay clicks and the pump stays silent, the air side is fine and the fault is on the power side. Sorting your symptom into one of those two groups is the whole job.

Where Each Air Tube Connects

The first video on this page shows the two master control boxes used on tubs with a heated seat and names every connection on them. Behind the magnetic access panel next to the door, look for the following on the box:

• Pump and heater ports. The heater pads, the air pump and the water pump each have their own port, and the power input is the cord that goes to the wall.
• Air tube nipples for the push buttons. The pump push switch, which is the Water button, connects to one nipple, the air blower push switch connects to the next, and the LED light push switch connects to the third. These are the connectors you are looking for.
• A display connector for the digital control keypad, which does the same job as the push buttons but electronically. A touchpad has a cable to the master control box rather than an air tube.
• The ICL light connector, where the LED chromatherapy light itself plugs in.
• The config switch used to program the box, and the green light that comes on when power flows into it.
• The power plug. One master box uses a standard three prong 15 amp plug. The other uses a 20 amp plug with one horizontal blade that needs a 20 amp receptacle.

Tubs whose chromatherapy light runs on its own LED control box with a transformer route the red tube from the Light button to a nipple on that box, which has a three prong power connector on the back and is separate from the pump circuits. That box carries two similar relays, one for the LED light and one for the ozone generator, each fed by its own clear tube. Why Won't My Chromatherapy Light Turn On? covers that box, and the layout for every package is in the cords and control boxes guide it links.

Finding a Tube You Cannot See

1. Turn off the GFCI breaker that feeds the tub before you open the access panel.
2. Remove the magnetic access panel next to the door to reach the control box.
3. Start at the button, not the box. Under the deck, each button has a locking nut, and the tube attaches there. A tube that is loose at the nut is as dead as one that is off the box, so check that it is tight.
4. Follow the tube down. If it ends in open air near the box, find the empty nipple that matches that button and push the tube firmly onto it so it is fully seated. Then tighten the locking nut at the button.
5. Restore power and press the button once. You should hear a faint relay click from inside the box. The second video shows the red tube seated at the box and secured at the button with the locking nut, and the click you are listening for.

Checks in Order When the Tube Is Seated and Nothing Runs

1. Fill before you test the Water button. Never press a pump button on a dry tub, because a dry run causes permanent damage that is not covered. Fill until the water is above the highest jets first. The air pump can run dry safely.
2. Count presses on the Air button. The first press is high, the second is medium, the third is low, and a fourth press turns the air off. A press that seems to do nothing may simply have moved the blower from high to medium.
3. Look for a button that is stuck down. A button sitting down that will not pop up has an air lock in its tube and keeps sending a run signal. Pull its tube off the nipple at the control box, let the button pop up, then push the tube firmly back on and listen for the click. Why Does the Pump Turn On as Soon as the Tub Is Plugged In? covers the related case where a pump runs on its own.
4. Check for a second GFCI. Some installations have more than one GFCI-protected circuit, and a tripped second GFCI can leave one system running while another is dead. Air Jets Work but the Hydro Jets Will Not Turn On: What to Check describes that pattern.
5. If the relay clicks but the pump stays silent, follow each pump cord to its end. The water pump and air pump must plug into their labeled ports on the control box, never into a wall outlet. On the LED box, confirm the three prong power connector is fully plugged in.
6. Swap two tubes to test a relay. At the LED box, move the LED tube onto the ozone relay and the ozone tube onto the LED relay, then press each button. Whichever function follows the button tells you whether the relay or the button and its tube is at fault. Turn the breaker off and swap the tubes back when you are done. Ozone (O3) Button Does Nothing: Checking the Relay Click, the Air Tube, and Swapping Relays to Test gives the full procedure.
7. Run the control box reset. Label and disconnect every tube and connector, restore power, hold the config button through the green LED blink sequence, then reconnect and test each function.
8. With the breaker off, have your installer or a licensed electrician check the connections at the pump for a line that needs to be reconnected.

When to Open a Ticket

If the tube is seated, the box has power, the cords are on the right ports and the relay still does not click, or it clicks and nothing runs after the reset, open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support or call your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850. Include your model and serial number, your therapy package, how the button responds to each press, whether the Auto Purge fires after a bath, a short video of the click test and a photo of the control box with every cord and tube visible. A failed relay ships under the parts warranty, and technical support keeps the push-control hardware, the tube, the button and the switch, on hand and can ship a set along with a repair video so your installer can check and replace it.

Watch: Push Button Control Issues and Repair with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Why Does a Deck Push Button Do Nothing on My Walk-In Tub?
• Blue Control Box Has No Power Light, or the Air Pump Runs Constantly: Diagnosis, Replacement and Returning the Old Box
• Pump or Blower Will Not Start When You Press the Button: Releasing an Air Lock at the Blue Control Box

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