Why Is the Air Blower Loud and Can I Keep It Off?

The air blower on an Ella walk-in tub is loud because it is a working air pump, and air pumps are not silent; the burst that startles most bathers is the Auto Purge, which starts about 20 minutes after the air massage is switched off and runs for 120 seconds. That purge is fully automatic and cannot be stopped or delayed, but the blower itself only runs when its button is pressed, and the purge is normal and harmless even if it begins while the bather is still in the tub. Loud Noise From the Pump or Heater Area: What to Send Support and Why Ella Works Through Your Installer explains how the team decides whether a sound is normal.

What the Blower Is Doing When It Gets Loud

The air blower is the pump that pushes air through the air massage jets, and it only runs when the air button is pressed. On the chrome push controls the first press starts the air massage on high speed, the second press drops it to medium, the third press to low, and a fourth press turns it off, so the loudest sound arrives the instant the button is first touched. On the digital touchpad, one touch of the air bubble icon starts the massage, the minus button lowers the intensity, and holding the icon for two seconds turns it off. The video on this page shows both control types in use.

The second sound, and the one that frightens people, is the Auto Purge. About 20 minutes after the air massage is switched off, the blower starts again on its own and runs for 120 seconds to blow residual water out of the air lines. It exists to clear moisture from the air jet system and prevent mold and mildew, it stops by itself, and it is normal even when it starts while the bather is still sitting in the tub. A quiet hum with nothing apparently on is usually the ozone generator, and a click when a button is pressed is the relay; Why Does My Walk-In Tub Make a Buzzing or Hissing Noise? sorts those sounds out one by one.

Can the Blower Be Kept Off Until the Bather Is Out?

The air massage itself is easy to control: if the air button is never pressed, the air pump does not run during the bath. The purge is different. It is fully automatic, there is no setting that disables it, shortens it or postpones it, and it cannot be stopped once it starts. What a caregiver can control is the timing, because the cycle is counted from the moment the air massage is switched off.

• Switch the air massage off early in the bath rather than at the end. The 20 minute countdown then runs while the bather is still soaking, and the purge often falls after they have stepped out and dried off.
• If the bather is still in the tub when the purge begins, let it run its 120 seconds. It is the same cycle that follows every use of the air massage, and it is normal even with someone in the water.
• Cutting power at the breaker is the step for a blower that will not stop, not a way to skip a normal purge. The purge is what keeps residual water from sitting in the air lines.

The support team is also asked whether the pump can be made quieter, and the answer is that there is no add-on that quiets a healthy air pump. Whirlpool pumps and air pumps are not silent, and an installer who has heard the motors on other whirlpool tubs is a good judge of whether yours sounds normal.

Making the Bath Predictable for a Nervous Bather

Fear of the noise is common once an older bather has been startled, and the answer is routine rather than a change to the tub. The guide to building a calm, predictable bathing routine names the Auto Purge and the ozone hum as the two sounds most likely to startle someone, and both are normal. The same guidance applies to any anxious bather: keep the bath at the same time each day, follow the same order of steps, tell the person each step before you do it, and never leave them alone in the tub.

1. Before the first bath, run the air massage with the bather out of the room, turn it off, and wait for the purge together so they hear both sounds with nothing at stake.
2. Explain the purge in one plain sentence before each bath: the tub will blow air through the jets for about two minutes after the massage is turned off to dry its lines.
3. If the high speed is too much, press the air button a second time for medium or a third time for low as soon as it starts, or leave the air massage off entirely and use the hydro massage or a plain soak.
4. Keep the caregiver on the controls. On outward-swing doors the handle sits on the outside in the caregiver's hands, and on inward-swing doors the weight of the water holds the door shut, so a startled reach for the handle does not cut the bath short.

Decisions about the person's care stay with their doctor, nurse or therapist. The tub's part is simply to behave the same way every time.

When the Noise Is Not Normal

Three sounds mean something needs attention, and each has a different first step.

• A whining sound from the air pump means the pump is faltering. Send the team a short video and they arrange a replacement pump under the parts warranty. Once support has confirmed the diagnosis the tub can usually still be used until the new pump is installed, so confirm that for your case.
• A blower that keeps running past the 120 seconds, or a purge that comes on twice in the same hour, is not the purge at all. Switch the tub off at the breaker, then check that the air pump is plugged into the outlet on top of the blue control box rather than a wall outlet, because a pump on the wall runs continuously by design. Why Won't My Tub Stop Purging? covers the reset and when the control box itself is the fault.
• Rattling, a loud bang or a burning smell is the moment to switch the tub off at the breaker and leave it off until the team has looked at your video.

Ella does not send technicians. A noise is diagnosed from a short phone video of the sound, taken with the access panel off if that can be done safely, plus your model and serial number from the label behind the magnetic access panel next to the door. Open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support with the video and a note of which button was pressed, then have your installer or a local plumber call (800) 480-6850 from the tub. Any part that proves faulty ships under the warranty, and a local licensed plumber or electrician fits it. For any other symptom, the troubleshooting symptom index points to the first check.

Related Guides

• My walk-in tub turned on by itself: the air massage Auto-Purge is normal
• Water Inside the Air Blower: The Check Valve in the Air Manifold
• Air Pump Whines or Stopped Working: Tests Before Replacement and How a New Pump Ships

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