If you press the button and the pump or blower does nothing, the most common cause is an air lock in the small hose that runs from the push button to the blue control box, and it takes about a minute to clear. Each push button works by sending a puff of air down a hose to an air switch on the box. If the pressure inside that hose drifts away from ambient, the switch can no longer feel the push and the pump never starts. Pulling the hose off the box for a few seconds lets it settle back to room pressure, and plugging it back in usually restores the button.

Release the Air Lock

1. Remove the large access panel in front of the seat, the one with the heater button on it. It is held by magnets and pries off with a butter knife or a flathead screwdriver.
2. Find the blue control box mounted to the frame. Small air hoses plug into the front of it, and each port is labeled on the white sticker.
3. One at a time, pull a hose off its port, let it hang loose for a few seconds so it recalibrates to ambient air pressure, and push it back on firmly.
4. Press the button. If it does not respond on the first press, press again and hold it briefly until the pump starts.

Reset all the hoses, not just the one for the button that failed. If you are testing a water-jet button, fill the tub above the jets first. You do not need to pull the tub away from the wall. Everything is reached through the access panel.

If the Button Still Does Nothing

• Check the hose at the button end. The hose can pop off the nipple under the button, especially after installation work. If it has, fish the hose out from under the tub, slip the nut over it, push it firmly onto the bottom of the button, tighten the nut and feed the hose back down. The steps and the port map are in the push-button air hose guide.
• Test the pump on its own. Unplug the air pump from the blue box and plug it directly into the outlet. If it runs, the pump is fine and the problem is in the box or the button. If it does not run, tell support.
• Check the button cap. If the cap or the button itself is missing, see what to do when a push button fell through.

Was It the Auto Purge?

Air jets that come on by themselves are usually the auto purge, not a fault. About 20 minutes after the air pump is switched off, the purge runs for 120 seconds to blow water out of the air lines. It cannot be stopped and the other features will not respond while it runs. Wait for it to finish, then try the button again. If the purge runs but the air button never works, read why the air jets stop while the purge still runs.

Related Symptoms

The same hose reset is the first step for the opposite problem, a pump that will not turn off. See why the air or pump will not shut off. If air and water refuse to run together, that is by design on some packages, explained in why the air and water jets will not run at the same time.

When the Control Box Is the Problem

If the hose reset does not help and the tub behaves erratically, for example jets that fire on their own or a light that will not turn off, the box itself may have an internal fault. Support can have a control box tested and ship it with a return label so the old box comes back for diagnosis. For any other symptom, start at the troubleshooting symptom index.

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.