Why Won't My Ella Digital Touchpad Respond When I Press a Button?

When an Ella digital touchpad does not respond, the first thing to check is how the icon is being touched, because the touchpad starts a system with a single touch and stops it with a two second hold, and a few therapies are not on the touchpad at all. If the gestures are right, confirm the tub has power at the breaker and the GFCI outlet, and then look at the plug behind the pad and its cable to the master control box. What each icon is marked with and how the pad compares with push buttons is explained in Are Ella Walk-In Tub Controls Clearly Labeled and Easy to Use?.

What the Touchpad Controls, and What It Does Not

On tubs with the digital panel, the touchpad runs the air massage, the LED chromatherapy light, the back hydro jets and the heated seat. Foot massage and microbubble keep their own separate push buttons, so an owner who taps around the pad looking for a microbubble icon will not find one, and that is not a fault. The strength of the hydro jets is also not set on the pad: the intensity dial adjusts jet strength just as it does with push controls, and turning the dial up introduces more air into the jet stream for a stronger flow.

Two more points of design are easy to mistake for a problem. The panel backlight stays on all the time, which is normal, so a lit pad at midnight is not a stuck control. And a tub only has controls for the systems it was built with, so if your tub was ordered without air massage, the air icon has nothing to run. What Does This Button on My Walk-In Tub Do? maps every control to the therapy behind it.

Check the Gestures Before Anything Else

Ella's controls video on this page demonstrates each gesture on the digital touchpad, and the two second hold is the step most often missed. Before you test any pump function, fill the tub until the water sits at least 1 inch above the highest jets. Never press a pump button on a dry tub, because a dry run causes permanent damage that is not covered.

1. Air massage: touch the air bubble icon once to start. Touch plus to increase the intensity and minus to decrease it. To turn the air off, hold the air bubble icon down for two seconds. A quick tap will not stop it, which is the most common reason an owner reports that the off command "does nothing."
2. Hydro massage: press the hydro button once to start and once again to stop. Set the strength with the intensity dial, not on the pad.
3. Chromatherapy light: press once for the full range of cycling colors, repeat a single press to settle on a specific color, and hold for two seconds to turn the light off. A light that seems stuck on one color is usually just holding that color, and a light that will not shut off has not been held long enough.
4. Heated seat: press once to start. The pads warm the surface gradually, so expect warmth on the seat after 10 to 15 minutes rather than instantly.

If the air starts but the speed seems wrong, the touchpad uses plus and minus rather than the repeated presses of the chrome push buttons, where the first press is high, the second medium, the third low and the fourth off. That difference is covered in Why Does My Air Massage Stay on One Speed?.

Check Power to the Tub

Confirm the breaker and the tub's GFCI outlet are live. Because the panel backlight normally stays lit all the time, a pad that is completely dark points toward power or the pad's own connection rather than toward your technique. If the light and the jets stopped at the same moment, look for a shared cause such as a tripped GFCI or a cord pulled loose behind the access panel.

Be careful about what a partial result proves. The LED runs on its own control box and transformer, separate from the pump circuits, so jets running from the pad proves the pump circuit and the pad's hydro command, not the light. If the pad runs the jets but the light icon does nothing, check that the three prong power connector on the back of the chromatherapy control box is fully plugged in and listen for a click inside the box when the icon is pressed. A click with no light points to the LED module or its three pin connection, while no click points to the box or the signal reaching it. The full sequence is in Why Won't My Chromatherapy Light Turn On?.

The Plug Behind the Pad and the Cable to the Master Control Box

If the gestures are right and the tub has power, the remaining causes are the pad itself or its cable to the master control box. The touchpad is siliconed into the tub deck with two-sided tape and a bead of white silicone, and its plug sits behind it, so this is the point where your installer or a local licensed electrician takes over rather than a quick check you make from the bathing side.

Ella's touchpad replacement video on this page shows exactly what that work involves, and the same steps apply to reseating a loose plug. The surface of the tub is protected first. The seal around the edges of the old pad is cut carefully, and a straight edge is worked around the pad to pry it away from the tub, which may take several tries because it has been siliconed into place. The pad is lifted out and the plug disconnected. With the new pad, the plug is reconnected and pushed firmly for a good connection, and power is temporarily reconnected to the tub to make sure the new pad functions before it is sealed. Only then is the backing removed from the two-sided tape, the unit pressed into place, and every edge sealed with white silicone and smoothed. Testing before sealing is the detail to insist on, since a pad sealed in and then found dead means cutting the silicone again.

Ella does not send technicians. A replacement pad is arranged through your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850, and the part ships under the warranty once the team has verified the fault. Your installer or a licensed electrician does the fitting, with the video as the guide.

When to Open a Ticket

If every icon is dark, or a single icon does nothing after the gestures above and the tub has power, open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support or call your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850. Include your serial number from the label behind the magnetic access panel next to the door, a note that your tub has the digital touchpad rather than chrome push buttons, a photo of the pad showing whether the backlight is lit, a short description of what happens with each icon, and a photo of the control box behind the access panel with its cords. Those details let the team tell a pad fault from a power or control box fault and match the right part to your tub.

Related Guides

• Why Isn't My Digital Control Pad Lighting Up?
• Blue Control Box Has No Power Light, or the Air Pump Runs Constantly: Diagnosis, Replacement and Returning the Old Box
• Touchpad or push button controls not responding: checks, repair, and replacement

Common Questions