What Features Come on the Ella Capri 30x52 Outward Swing Door Tub?

The Ella Capri is a 30 inch by 52 inch acrylic walk-in tub with a plastic composite and tempered glass outward-swing door, a 20 inch seat, a 5-piece fast-fill faucet, two 2 inch drains, and a choice of five packages that run from a simple soaker to dual therapy combinations. Its current spec sheet lists an actual size of 30 inches by 52 inches by 40 inches and a water capacity of 85 gallons unoccupied, or 45 to 65 gallons occupied. The quick model summary lives in Ella Capri 30x52: Outward-Swing Door With Independent Foot Option, and this page walks through every feature on the spec sheet, separating what is standard on every Capri from what arrives only with a particular package.

What Every Capri Includes, Even as a Soaker

The spec sheet lists seven included features under the Soaking version, which means they are part of every Capri no matter which therapy package is chosen:

• An acrylic shell in a gloss white finish, reinforced with fiberglass gelcoat.
• A stainless steel frame with adjustable leveling legs.
• The plastic composite and tempered glass outward-swing door with a 3-latch gear and shaft mechanism.
• A removable front apron with two access panels.
• One reversible end panel and one 8 inch extension panel.
• A stainless steel, chrome finish deck and wall-mounted grab bar.
• Two 2 inch 4-port PVC drains with 2 end caps included, 2 overflows, and 2 stainless steel operated openers with extended handles in a chrome finish.

For your bathroom, this list answers several planning questions at once. The 8 inch extension panel and reversible end panel are what let a 52 inch tub finish neatly in a 60 inch alcove. The removable apron and its two access panels keep the equipment reachable from the front for the life of the tub. The grab bars, drains and drain handles are already part of the tub, so they are not extras to track down separately.

The Outward-Swing Door and the Low Step-In

The Capri belongs to Ella's U-shape outward-swing door family. The door is a white PVC composite frame with a tempered glass panel, it swings outward 165 degrees, and it locks on a 3-latch gear and shaft mechanism. Because the door opens into the room rather than into the tub, the model profile advises allowing about 21 inches of clear floor in front of it. The step-in threshold is among the lowest in the line at roughly 3.5 to 4 inches.

Two videos on this page show the door hardware. In the first, Ella explains that its outswing doors use a gear and shaft locking mechanism that assures a tight, leak-proof seal, that the U-shaped door uses a three shaft gear and lock system, and that the handle is easy to engage and disengage. The second shows how an outward-swing door is replaced: six bolts on the door side of the hinge are removed with a 3/16 allen wrench, an assistant lifts the door away from the tub, and the new door goes on by lining up the bolt holes with the hinge and tightening the bolts firmly.

The door side is chosen with your order, and the drains always land on the opposite side from the door. A right-side door tub has its drains on the left, and a left-side door tub has its drains on the right, as you face the tub. The same door platform is used on the Lounger, and Does the Ella Lounger Walk-In Tub Door Leak Over Time? explains how the door and door seal are covered as parts under the Lifetime Limited Warranty for the original owner, with labor done by a local licensed plumber.

The Five Packages and What Each System Includes

The Capri spec sheet publishes five configurations:

1. Air + Hydro, with the LED chromatherapy light included.
2. Hydro + Hydro Independent Foot Massage, with the LED chromatherapy light included. This package uses two pumps.
3. Hydro Massage + Microbubble, with the LED chromatherapy light included.
4. Hydro Massage, where the LED chromatherapy light is not included.
5. Soaking, with no jets.

The Capri carries two therapy systems at most, because the equipment sits under the seat of a compact frame. Bathers who want three systems are steered toward the Royal, Monaco or Transfer32 instead. Therapies are built in at the factory and cannot be added later, so the package decision belongs at order time.

What the differences mean: the jet layout is nearly the same whichever massage you choose, so the real choice is the feel of the therapy and how many pumps your electrician will be wiring. The independent foot package is the only one with two hydro pumps, which is what lets the foot jets run with their own intensity dial. On the air system, the first press of the push control is high speed, the second is medium, the third is low, and a fourth press turns it off. Auto Purge then activates on its own 20 minutes after the air pump is turned off and runs for 120 seconds to clear water from the air lines, which is normal and cannot be stopped. One reading note: the Capri sheet prints .04AMP beside the LED light, which is a misprint of the ozone rating. The LED is rated 0.5A, and 0.04A is correct only for ozone sterilization.

Faucet, Drains and Electrical Details

The Capri faucet is the 5-piece single lever fast-fill set. The spec sheet rates it at up to 18 GPM at 60 PSI with ideal in-home plumbing, while the pull-out chrome hand shower, on a 5 foot retractable stainless steel braided hose, is limited to 1.9 GPM. Two 3/4 inch by 5 foot braided stainless steel supply lines are included, and shut-off valves are not, so your plumber supplies those.

The drain is Ella's 2 inch T-type dual port floor drain: two independent 2 inch floor drains with four 2 inch drain ports in total. The T shape lets the drain pipe be installed in either direction, the two included end caps close the unused ports, and the house drain can connect to either or both ports. Reducers can be used for smaller pipes, and the PVC connections themselves are not included.

Every electrical fixture on the tub connects to a dedicated GFCI protected outlet or GFCI protected circuit breaker on a 110/120V 60Hz line. The spec sheet also notes that the amp value for each pump may change based on availability, so please verify the current figures with your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 before your electrician plans the circuits.

Size, Seat and Water Figures That Decide the Fit

• Actual size: 30 inches by 52 inches by 40 inches. Shipping size: 33 inches by 55 inches by 50 inches.
• Net weight 215 lbs, shipping weight 365 lbs.
• Seat 20 inches wide and 14 inches long, with 24 inches of shoulder room and a seat-to-overflow soaking depth of about 17 inches.
• Water capacity 85 gallons unoccupied and 45 to 65 gallons occupied.

Doorways on the way to the bathroom must be wider than 30 inches. If the room allows 2 more inches of width, the Monaco is the same design at 32 inches wide with the same jetting, and Monaco vs. Capri: What Actually Differs Between Ella's Two Outward-Swing 52-Inch Tubs shows that both share a soaking depth of about 33 inches from the tub floor to the overflow and a seat height of just under 17 inches. If 52 inches is too long for your wall, the shorter models are lined up in What is the shortest walk-in bathtub Ella's Bubbles makes?. For a wider look at how low thresholds, built-in seats and door styles serve different bathers, see What is an accessible bathtub, and who are walk-in tubs designed for?.

Watch: Ella's Bubbles: Replacing An Outward Swing Door with chapters and a full transcript.

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