What is a bubble tub and how do the air jets work?

A bubble tub is a bathtub that pushes air, rather than water, through small jets in the seat area so the bath fills with a soft, effervescent massage. On an Ella walk-in tub that is the air massage system: an air pump, a set of air jets, a three speed push control and an automatic drying cycle called Auto Purge. It is a different system from hydro massage, from microbubble therapy and from a tub full of bubble bath, and if the bubbles feel too lively, What Do I Do If My Walk-In Tub Jets Are Too Strong? shows how to soften them with one more press.

Three Things People Mean by Bubble Tub

The phrase gets used for three different experiences, and each one behaves differently in the water. The table sorts them out using what Ella's guides and videos describe, with the hydro massage added because it is the system most often confused with a bubble tub.

What the differences mean for you: an air tub is the gentle, all-over option and the one people usually picture when they say bubble tub. Microbubble therapy is a separate, optional system with its own button and a single port, so a tub has it only when the order lists it. Bubble bath is not a system at all, just a product that behaves very differently once jets are churning the water. Hydro massage is the deep, adjustable water massage, and its intensity dial has no effect on the air jets.

How the Air Jets Work, Press by Press

Ella air massage runs from a deck-mounted push control or a digital touchpad, and the video on this page walks through both. The push control is pneumatic: pressing the button sends a puff of air down a small hose to a switch at the control box, rather than closing an electrical contact at the button. The control box starts the air pump and every air jet in the system bubbles at once. There is no way to shut off a single jet, because removing an air jet lets air escape from the system, so the speed setting is how you tune the feel.

1. First press: high speed. The air massage always starts at its strongest setting.
2. Second press: medium speed.
3. Third press: low speed, the gentlest bubbles the system makes.
4. Fourth press: the air pump turns off.

On the digital touchpad the air bubble icon starts the system with one touch, the plus and minus buttons raise or lower the intensity, and holding the icon for two seconds turns the air off. Whichever control you have, count presses from off if the speeds ever feel out of order: the first press is always high. The intensity dial on the deck belongs to the hydro massage, not the air jets. Turning it up introduces more air into the water stream for a stronger flow, and turning it down reduces the air for a more gentle flow. Fill to 2 inches above the highest jets before starting the hydro so the jets push through water instead of spraying.

Auto Purge, the Cycle You Did Not Press

About 20 minutes after you turn the air pump off, the system starts on its own and runs for 120 seconds, blowing the residual water out of the air lines. This is Auto Purge. It is fully automatic, it cannot be stopped, and it is normal even if it begins while you are still sitting in the tub or after you have drained and left the room. The hydro system has its own helper, an ozone generator that runs whenever the hydro jets are on to sanitize the water lines.

Microbubble Therapy, the Other Kind of Bubble Tub

Infusion microbubble therapy is an optional system, and it is the one people usually mean when they describe a bubble tub whose water goes milky. The second video on this page shows it: one touch of the micro button and, in the presenter's words, literally billions of micro bubbles come from a single port in the tub. The water turns from clear to completely cloudy, and the presenter describes the result as a warm, skin softening bath that exfoliates and invigorates, with water the video says carries up to 70 percent more oxygen than regular tap water.

Mechanically it is nothing like the air jets. What the LayDown Microbubble Schematic Shows: Air Switch, Relay, Water Pump, Pressure Tank and One Jet traces the chain on a LayDown tub: the push control operates a relay, the relay starts a 110 volt water pump, the pump draws bath water in and sends it to a pressure tank, and the tank returns the water through one dedicated jet that is separate from any air or hydro jets. Because the pump draws water from the tub, the system runs only with the tub filled above the jets. The schematic marks the whole system as an optional feature, so if your order paperwork does not list microbubble therapy, your tub does not have the pump and tank.

Bubble Bath, Foam and Keeping the Lines Clean

You can use ordinary bubble bath, shampoo and body wash in a bubble tub, even with the jets running, but the air and hydro systems whip soap into far more foam than a standard bathtub. Can You Use Bubble Bath or Shampoo With the Jets Running? Managing Foam in a Jetted Walk-In Tub recommends starting with a fraction of the usual capful, letting the jets run for a minute before adding more, and switching the jets off for a moment if the foam gets ahead of you so it settles. Afterward, rinse the tub and run the hand shower over the jets so soap film does not dry inside the lines.

Bath bombs are the one product to keep out of any jetted Ella tub, because their oils, dye and glitter lodge in the jets and can damage the pump system, and bath oils and beads are not recommended for the same reason. Can I Use Epsom Salts, Bath Bombs or Bubble Bath in My Walk-In Tub? gives the full list, along with the habit of running the therapy first and adding fully dissolved Epsom salts for the still soak afterward. Once a month, and any time the lines have seen additives, run the flush: combine 2 cups of white vinegar with 2 cups of water, fill the tub with water to one inch above the highest jets, add the mixture, run the tub for 10 minutes, then drain.

If you press the air button and nothing happens, the first checks are simple. Reset the GFCI and confirm the outlet is live, look for the green LED on the blue control box, and confirm the air hose from each push button is seated firmly at the button and at the control box nipple, since a loose hose is the usual reason a bubble jet switch goes quiet. How Do I Start Using a Walk-In Tub That Sat Unused for Years? walks through those checks in order. If the LED stays dark on a good outlet, open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support or call your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 with your model and serial number.

Related Guides

• Why Does the Air Massage Blow Cold Air? There Is No Heating Element
• My walk-in tub turned on by itself: the air massage Auto-Purge is normal
• Hydro Massage vs Air Massage vs Microbubble: What Each System Does and How They Combine

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