How does a walk-in tub work from door to drain?

A walk-in tub works by putting the door in the tub wall. You step over a low threshold, sit on a built-in seat, close and latch the door, and only then fill the tub; when the bath is over you drain the water first, then open the door and step out. Ella pairs that sequence with fast-fill faucets, gravity-driven 2 inch drains and, on therapy models, an in-line heater that keeps the water warm while the jets run. Walk-In Tub Versus a Regular Bathtub: Seven Practical Differences in Entry, Seating, Fill and Drain, Water Use, Electrical, Installation and Cleaning compares the two tub types, and this page follows one bath from the door to the drain.

The Door Is Part of the Tub Wall

On a regular bathtub you climb over a high wall and lie down. On a walk-in tub the wall has a sealed door in it, so you step through a low threshold and sit on a molded seat at chair height. On the Capri, for example, the step-in is roughly 3 1/2 to 4 inches. Ella seats run from 19 inches wide on the Petite to 29 inches on the TransferXXL, the floor is textured and slip resistant, and nearly every Ella model has a built-in grab bar as standard equipment. Depending on the model, the door swings inward into the tub, as on the Standard's acrylic S-shape door, or outward into the room, as on the Capri, Monaco and ShaK, whose plastic composite and tempered glass door closes on a three-latch gear and shaft mechanism. Either way, the door has to stay closed and latched while there is water inside, and that single fact sets the order of everything that follows.

Step One: Get in, Close the Door, Then Fill

Because the door is in the wall, you get in first, close the door, and fill the tub while seated. That is why Ella pairs its tubs with fast-fill faucets: the 2-piece set fills at 16 GPM and the 5-piece set at 18 GPM at ideal home plumbing, so a tub with a capacity of around 60 gallons fills quickly rather than leaving you waiting. The video on this page shows the faucet choices, including the two-piece high-flow set, the five-piece high-flow set and the TCV faucet, and explains that when you place your order the tub is drilled for the faucet you select. On a tub with the Ella thermostatic faucet package, the built-in Thermostatic Control Valve mixes hot and cold to a set temperature. Your home water heater does the heating, so start with a comfortably hot fill and keep the bath water at or below 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. If the tub has hydro jets, fill until the water is 2 inches above the highest jets before you switch them on. The glossy acrylic shell acts like an insulator, and an optional heated seat adds warmth while the water rises.

Step Two: Run the Therapy

A soaking tub has no pumps, so the bath is simply a warm soak behind the door. A hydro massage tub has a pump, and when you press the on/off control the pump pulls water out of the tub, through the in-line heater and back out through the jets. The heater maintains the temperature of the water you filled with, but it does not raise it, and it switches on and off with the pump, so there is no heater button and no thermostat to set. Typical spec sheet ratings are 6A 650W on the Standard, Zen and Flow, 5.5A 650W on the Elite and Petite, and 9A 1000W on the Ultimate's foot loop. On tubs with independent foot massage the heater is attached to the foot massage pump, so running the foot jets is what keeps the water warm. Air massage works differently: a separate pump pushes air through the air jets, and it has no heater. On Ella's three-speed push control the first press is high, the second is medium, the third is low and a fourth press turns the system off. About 20 minutes after the air pump is turned off, the auto purge starts automatically and runs for 120 seconds to blow residual water out of the air lines. It cannot be stopped, and it is normal even if it starts while you are still in the tub. These pumps are why a therapy tub needs an electrician as well as a plumber, one of the seven differences in the linked comparison. What Is an In-Line Water Heater on a Walk-In Tub? explains the heater in detail.

Step Three: Drain, Then Open the Door

When the bath is over, open the drain and stay seated until the tub is empty, then open the door and step out over the threshold. Most Ella tubs use two 2 inch gravity-driven drains rather than a single drain. There is no drain pump; water flows straight down through the two openings, and when the tub is connected to a proper 2 inch drain line it typically empties in two minutes or less. The Standard is one exception, shipping with one 2 inch gravity floor drain with an overflow and an emergency pull-up chain. Drain speed depends on the drain line under the tub as much as on the tub itself, so a licensed plumber should connect it to a 2 inch line. Drainage and Fill Time covers both ends of the bath.

After the Bath: Keeping the Tub Working

Two habits keep a walk-in tub working the way it did on day one. The first is the jet flush: before first use and once a month, combine 2 cups of white vinegar with 2 cups of water, fill the tub to one inch above the highest jets, add the mixture, run the tub for 10 minutes and drain. Flushing after every bath is not necessary. The second is surface care. The shell is one solid piece of acrylic that polishes back to a shine, so use non-abrasive cleaners, lift stubborn marks with denatured alcohol, and restore light scratches or dull spots with a fine automotive polishing compound such as a Turtle Wax product, working in small circles with a soft cloth. Abrasive cleansers and scrubbing pads are the one thing that will permanently damage the gloss. Scratches, Scuffs, or Discoloration on the Acrylic: Surface Care and Touch-Up Kits has the full method. If anything in the sequence above does not match what your tub is doing, open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support or call (800) 480-6850 with your model and serial number.

Watch: Luxury Faucet Options for Your Walk-In Tub, Voted Best/Safest 2020 | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

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