Where Do the Extra Rubber Gaskets in My Tub Parts Box Go?

The extra rubber gaskets in the parts box belong to the drain connections under the tub, not to the tub body or the door. Each one pairs with a threaded nut that screws onto a drain tailpiece and seals the drain body to the house piping, and because Ella walk-in tubs use a dual drain, a set is supplied for each side, so what looks like a spare is usually the second drain's set. Plug gaskets are a different, thinner part that sits on the drain plugs themselves, and Drain Plugs, Plug Stems, Drain Gaskets and Hair Catchers: Adjusting, Replacing and Keeping Them Out of the Drain shows where each of those sits.

What Ships Loose with the Tub

Several small items travel in the parts box rather than fitted to the tub, and sorting them by job is the quickest way to place every gasket. The drain plugs are packed in the parts box that ships with the tub. The threaded nuts and rubber gaskets for the drain tailpieces are there too, one set for each of the two drains. The multi-port drain body under the tub also has caps for the ports that are not connected to the house drain. On models that include a deck-mount grab bar, that bar ships loose in its own kit with its own hardware, which is where a second batch of rubber pieces comes from. Before anyone installs anything, lay the loose parts out and compare them against the crate inventory checklist, which lists every loose piece by category. Doing this while the tub is still accessible saves a plumber from improvising a fitting that Ella already supplied.

Where the Drain Gaskets Go

Ella walk-in tubs use a gravity dual drain with a multi-port drain body under the tub. The drain gasket seats in the connection where the brass drain meets the PVC, inside the threaded union. Three details matter to the plumber making that joint.

• The gasket has two different faces and leaks when installed upside down. Fitted the right way up, it seals hand tight.
• A dual drain uses a set on each side, so both drains should end up with a gasket in their union before any gasket is considered left over.
• The union nut should be snug, not forced. A loose nut weeps, a nut tightened too far displaces the gasket, and a drain elbow cracks when it is overtightened during installation.

Every port on the T-type drain body that is not connected to the house drain must have its cap installed, so if the parts box also holds a cap or two, those go on the open ports, not in a drawer. Replacing Drain Elbows, Nuts, Gaskets, Drain Covers and Plunger Parts on a Walk-In Tub describes the whole drain assembly piece by piece, and notes that these are tub-specific parts to order from Ella rather than a generic fitting from a hardware store.

Rubber Parts That Are Easy to Mistake for Drain Gaskets

Two other rubber items arrive with an Ella tub, and both get confused with the drain gaskets.

1. Plug gaskets. Each drain plug carries a thin gasket or silicone ring in a groove on the plug. These are already on the plugs when they arrive, so a loose one has usually slipped off during handling or cleaning, and it can go down the drain unnoticed. If a plug gasket keeps lifting, the stopper height or the lock nut on the stem is the usual reason, which Why Do the Rubber Gaskets on My Drain Plugs Keep Coming Off? walks through.
2. Grab bar rubber washers. The deck-mount grab bar kit contains one chrome bar, two escutcheons, four rubber washers, two large metal washers, two bolts and an Allen wrench. Each bolt is assembled in this order: metal washer, then rubber washer, up through the shell from underneath, then another rubber washer, then the escutcheon, and threaded loosely into the bar before both bolts are tightened with the supplied Allen wrench. That is two rubber washers per bolt, so if the installer used one per bolt, the two left in the box belong on the bar. The metal washer spreads the load across the acrylic, and installing the bar without it can crack the shell and voids the warranty. What grab bars does Ella offer for its walk-in tubs? covers that kit and which models include it.

A quick sorting rule: a flat ring with two different faces is a drain gasket for the union, a thin ring that fits a groove on a chrome plug is a plug gasket, and a small washer that matches the bolt holes in the grab bar is a grab bar washer.

Check the Drain Joints Before the Apron Goes Back on

Once the gaskets are in place, test them while the front access panel is still off, because a gasket problem shows up only when water moves through the drain. Dry everything under the tub with a towel, then fill the tub a few inches with both drains closed and wait. If the area stays dry, the shell and supply side are fine. Then open one drain at a time with a flashlight on the drain body and watch the gasket joint where the brass drain meets the PVC, the elbow and the union nuts. If the gasket joint weeps, undo the union by hand, look at the gasket and confirm it is the right way up; flipped correctly, it seals hand tight. A tub that is dry during the bath and wet under the tub only when the water goes out has its leak in exactly these joints, as Why Does My Tub Leak Only When I Let the Water Out? explains.

If a Gasket Is Still Unaccounted for

If both drains are connected, the grab bar is on, the open ports are capped and a rubber piece is still left over, do not guess at a place for it. Photograph the part next to a ruler, photograph the drain body and elbow under the tub, and photograph the model and serial label, which is on the sticker behind the magnetic access panel next to the door or on the paper label on the side of the shell. Send those through ellasbubbles.com/support or call (800) 480-6850 and the team will confirm where it goes before anything is drilled or improvised. Drain designs have varied across tub generations, so the photos matter more than a description. Ella ships drain parts and does not send a technician; a local licensed plumber handles the fitting, and the lifetime parts warranty covers the waste and overflow hardware for the original purchaser at the original installation address.

Related Guides

• Drain Plug Will Not Open or Drains Slowly: Checking the Set Screw and the Stem
• My drain will not open or close: replacing the drain cable and adjusting drain height
• Leak at the Drain Elbow or Drain Pipe: Overtightening, Standard PVC Fittings and Replacement Assemblies

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