Why does a deck push button do nothing on my walk-in tub?

A deck push button that does nothing is almost always an air-signal problem rather than an electrical one. Each chrome button sends a small puff of air down a slim tube to a relay inside the control box, and if that tube is loose at either end the relay never clicks and the pump or light never starts. Before you open anything, make sure the tub is filled above the highest jets, because a hydro button pressed on an empty tub shows nothing at all. What Are Push Controls (Easy-Touch Buttons) on a Walk-In Tub? explains how the buttons are built, and this page walks through the checks in the order the team uses them.

First, Rule Out the Things That Are Not Faults

• The tub is dry. The hydro system moves water, so with nothing in the tub all you get is a hum from the motor and nothing at the jets. Keep any dry test to a moment, because a hydro pump that runs without water can burn out, and the hydro control has no low-water cutoff to protect it. Fill until the water is above the highest jets, then press. Hydro Pump Only Hums After a Repair: Why an Empty Tub Shows Nothing covers this in detail.
• The button belongs to a system your tub does not have. A tub only has buttons for the therapies it was built with, and some Transfer and legacy units ship with unlabeled buttons, which is normal. Water is hydro, Air is the three-speed air massage, Micro is microbubble, Light is the LED and the flame button is the heated seat. What Does This Button on My Walk-In Tub Do? has the full key.
• The plain dial is not a switch. The unlabeled knob on a hydro tub is the intensity dial. It regulates jet pressure and does nothing until the hydro pump is running.
• The button is doing something you did not expect. The Air button cycles high, medium, low and then off, so four presses take you around the full cycle. The Light button cycles colors on each press and turns off with a two second hold. The video on this page shows the normal behavior of every push control and the digital touchpad.
• You pressed too hard. A gentle press with the palm of your hand is all the buttons need, and pressing too hard can damage the internal mechanism.

Listen for the Relay Click

With the tub filled, press the button and listen for a faint click from the control box under the tub. A click means the relay is switching. If you hear the click and the function still does not start, the air signal is arriving and the problem is downstream of the relay, so open a ticket with a short video of the test so tech support can look further. No click means the puff of air is not reaching the relay, which points to the tube or its connections. On a tub with an LED button and an ozone button, the two relays are similar, so you can press the light button first to learn what the click sounds like and then compare.

Reseat the Air Tube at the Control Box

1. Turn off the GFCI breaker that feeds the tub before opening the access panel.
2. Remove the magnetic access panel next to the door to reach the blue control box.
3. Trace the clear air tube from the dead button down to the control box and find the relay nipple it leads to.
4. Plug the tube firmly onto the nipple. The second video on this page shows the technique: twist and push at the same time so the tube seats all the way on.
5. Restore power and press the button again, listening for the click.

On the Standard and Zen platform the air pipe connection passes through the shell with a back nut, and that nut must be tightened and verified working before the install is finalized. A brand new tub whose buttons do nothing often has a loose connection there, so ask your installer to check it before anything else.

Check the Button End and Clear an Air Lock

The tube can also come loose at the button itself. The video shows how to reach it: work a fine flat screwdriver, or two, around the chrome ring to pry it off, lift the button out, and pull the black pump body out of the housing. Behind it you will find the lock nut and the hose. Secure the hose, push the pump back in, and refit the button and the chrome ring.

A button that stays down after a press is an air lock rather than a broken part. Disconnect its tube at the control box so the button pops back up, then reconnect the tube and test again. If a button still will not send a signal after both ends are seated, the button and its air hose are replaceable parts.

Test the Relay by Swapping Tubes

If reseating does not bring back the click, the relay can be tested without any tools. On tubs with an LED light button and an ozone button, swap the two air tubes at the control box so the light tube is on the ozone relay and the ozone tube is on the light relay. This is a test only. With the tubes swapped, the light button should now control the ozone and the ozone button should control the light. If the function runs from the other button, its relay works and the fault is in the original button or its tube. If the function will not run from either button, that relay is the faulty part. 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 shows the full sequence. A failed relay ships under the parts warranty, and a local licensed electrician or your installer fits it.

When Nothing on the Deck Responds

If every button is dead at once, the tub may have lost power or the control box may need a reset. Check that the tub's dedicated GFCI breakers are on and that the GFCI outlet has not tripped, then follow the control box reset guide before ordering parts. Remember that the same buttons are the way to stop a function in a hurry, and switching off the dedicated GFCI breakers removes all power from the tub without darkening anything else in the house, as How Do I Turn the Jets Off in an Emergency? explains.

To open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support or call your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850, have your model name, your serial number, your order details from where you purchased, which button is affected, whether you hear a click from the control box when you press it, and a photo of the blue control box with its cords and air tubes. A short video of the click test is the fastest way for the team to confirm the cause. Ella's Bubbles does not send technicians. Parts ship under the warranty, and a local licensed plumber or electrician does the labor.

Related Guides

• One Push Button Does Nothing While the Others Work: The Breaker Check and the Hose Swap Test
• How Do I Replace a Broken Push Button and Its Air Hose?
• What Is the Control Box on a Walk-In Tub?

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