If your drain plug drops back down instead of staying up, or a small brass piece came out of the drain opening, the drain lever inside the drain body is usually the damaged part, not the cable. Open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support with your model, serial number and photos, and the team will confirm whether you need the lever, the drain cable or the complete drain assembly, then ship the correct part. Ella does not send technicians. A local licensed plumber does the labor, and Ella's technical support is available to your plumber by phone.

Three Parts, Three Very Different Jobs

The gravity drain on an Ella walk-in tub has three parts that customers often lump together.

• The drain lever is the small brass lever inside the drain body that lifts the plug when you turn the handle. When it is bent, broken or stuck, the plug falls and will not stay up.
• The drain cable runs from the handle at the overflow down to the drain body and moves that lever. What a drain cable is and does is covered in its own article.
• The complete drain assembly replaces the drain body and its cable together as one unit. It is the usual choice when reaching the cable behind the handles is not practical.

How the Lever Gets Damaged

The most common cause is someone stepping on an open drain, which bends or breaks the lever. Hard water is the other culprit, because mineral buildup on the lever can stop it from moving freely. The cable itself very rarely breaks on this style of drain, so a drain that is stuck open or will not lift usually points to the lever or to a loose adjustment rather than a snapped cable. If the small screw lever at the drain is simply loose, threading it in further is often the whole fix. The drain will not open article and the drain cable replacement and adjustment article cover that adjustment.

Which Part Do You Need?

Before anything ships, the team wants to see the problem. Send three photos with your ticket: the drain opening from inside the tub with the plug removed, any broken piece that came out, and the handle side at the overflow. The photos let the team identify the exact part for your tub. They also show whether the damage is accidental or a defect, which matters because accidental damage, such as a drain that was stepped on, is not covered under the lifetime parts warranty. The team confirms what applies to your specific order.

Replacing the Drain Lever

The lever is replaced from the drain body, and the first step is the same disconnection shown in the cable replacement video the team sends with the part.

1. Detach the drain cable where it meets the bottom of the drain body, following the drain cable replacement and adjustment steps.
2. Remove the damaged lever and seat the new lever inside the drain body.
3. Reattach the cable to the new lever.
4. Turn the handle and confirm the plug lifts and stays up, then fill and drain the tub to test.

Removing the old lever is harder than it looks from above, and in some tubs it cannot be done without removing the bottom drain from the tub. That is a plumber's job.

When the Full Assembly Makes More Sense

The cable connects behind the overflow and drain handles, and on an installed tub that space is very hard to work in. Replacing only the cable can mean pulling the tub out of the alcove. When that is the case, the team usually recommends replacing the entire drain assembly instead, because it is a cleaner job for your plumber. Talk to the team before anyone moves the tub, since a loose screw lever can look like a broken cable from above.

Keep Small Pieces Out of the Drain

Loose levers, plug stems and stopper parts can disappear down the drain line. If something already went down, read what to do when a piece of the drain stopper went down the drain. For plug and gasket fit, see the drain plugs, stems and gaskets article.

Common Questions

Still Need Help?

Open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support or call (800) 480-6850 and have your model and serial number ready.