Who Replaces My Air Button and Hose If I Cannot Reach Under the Tub?

You do not have to make this repair yourself. A cracked, stuck or dropped push button is a stock part that ships under the Lifetime Limited Warranty once the defect is verified from your photos and serial number, and fitting it is ordinary work for a local licensed plumber, electrician or handyman, because Ella does not send technicians. If you cannot reach inside the tub and have no one to call, the team can check its installer network for a preferred installer near your address. The documented steps for replacing a button in its existing hole are in Can I move a push button to a different spot on the tub deck?, and this page explains how the button and hose go together, what the person doing the work needs to know, and how to arrange that help.

How the Button and Hose Work Together

A push button on an Ella deck is pneumatic, so there is no electricity at the button itself. Pressing it sends a small puff of air down a slim red tube to a relay inside the control box, or to the air switch on the pump, and the relay clicks and switches the matching pump or light. At the button end the tube is secured with a locking nut. Under the tub the far end goes either to the labeled air switch port on the control box or straight to the air switch on the pump. On a pump connection the old hose comes off by unscrewing the white nut, the nut moves onto the new hose, and the new hose is pushed in. Both videos on this page show these connections. The first follows the red tube from the button to the control box, demonstrates the audible click inside the box with each press, and shows an air lock, where the button is stuck in the down position and pops back up when the tube is disconnected at the box. The second shows the tube being twisted and pushed onto the control box nipple, the button being pried out of its housing with two fine flat screwdrivers, the lock nut and hose behind it, and the button and chrome ring being refitted.

Two details people ask about are not published. Ella's guidance treats the button and the hose as one job and describes attaching the new air hose to the new button during the replacement, but whether the part arrives with the hose already joined is something to confirm with the team when you order. No torque figure is published for the locking nut. The working standard is that the hose is tight at the button using the locking nut and seated firmly on its nipple at the box or pump, because a hose only partly on its nipple or a lock nut that has loosened will send a signal on some presses and not others, and reseating both ends firmly usually clears that.

The Steps Your Contractor Follows

1. Open the magnetic access panel next to the door to reach the control box and the underside of the deck.
2. Thread a screw into the old button to pull it out, or pry it out of its housing with a fine flat screwdriver, working around the chrome ring.
3. Attach the new air hose to the new button and tighten the locking nut.
4. Set the new button in a generous bead of clear kitchen and bath silicone in the existing hole.
5. Route the hose to the labeled port on the control box or to the air switch on the pump and push it firmly onto the nipple with a twist.
6. Pull the hose off the box or pump for a moment and reconnect it once, so the button is not air locked. Skipping this leaves the button pressed down and it will not work.
7. Press the button and listen for the click inside the control box that confirms the relay is firing.

That same disconnect-and-reconnect step frees a button that is already stuck down, so if your symptom is a button that does nothing and gives no click, the first check in Troubleshooting Start Here: Match Your Symptom to the First Check and the Right Article is simply whether the hose has popped off the button or the box nipple. A loose hose is the most common cause of a dead button, so have whoever opens the panel look at both ends before a new part is ordered.

Getting the Part Under the Warranty

Open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support or call (800) 480-6850 with your model and serial number, which are on the label behind the access panel next to the door, a photo or short video of the button, a description of what it does when pressed, and your installation address. Once the defect is verified from the photos, the part ships to the original customer's address without charge, and delivery depends on parts availability and your location. Control boxes and pumps ship the same way as a small button or hose, as Does Ella Send a Technician? Parts, Labor, and Free Lifetime Tech Support Explained lays out.

The warranty is a parts warranty. Labor is not covered, Ella's Bubbles will not be liable for incidental expenses or material charges in connection with removal or replacement of parts, and plumbing or electrical connections and improper installation are excluded. The licensed contractor who installs or services the tub warrants their own workmanship, so when a builder installed the tub, the builder is the contractor whose labor terms apply, as Is Repair Labor Covered on a Walk-In Tub My Builder Installed? explains. Ella's Bubbles is also not bound by labor promises made by dealers or contractors. How work done by hand yourself would sit with your coverage is worth confirming with the team before you start, with your model and serial number ready.

Who Does the Work When You Cannot

If reaching into the access panel is not something you can do, you do not have to search for help on your own.

• A referral from the installer network. Ask the team for a referral from the same installer network used for new installations. It works even if your original installer is unreachable or the dealer who sold the tub has closed, and the team checks for a preferred installer near your installation address.
• A plumber, electrician or handyman you already trust. Nearly every repair on an Ella tub, from a button and air hose to a valve or a control box, is ordinary plumbing and electrical work, and no prior Ella experience is required. The team answers their questions by phone, by email with photos, or by live video.
• Your original installer or builder. Their own workmanship warranty may apply to the installation, and they already know the tub.

Labor is set and warranted by the local contractor who does the work, and Ella does not scope or price it, so the referral is a convenience rather than a requirement. If your installer has closed, My Installer Went Out of Business, Who Does Warranty Repair Labor Now? explains why your parts warranty continues unchanged, because it comes from Ella's Bubbles and was registered in your name at the installation address rather than in the installer's name. Whoever does the work, the team can look at the button with you by video first, so a part is only ordered when the hose check has already been done.

Watch: How to Secure Air & Hydro Connections in Your Walk-In Tub | Ellas Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• How Do I Replace a Broken Push Button and Its Air Hose?
• How do I inspect and replace a cracked pneumatic button on my tub?

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