Air Mattress repair

P

phatch

Joined
Oct 3, 1998
Messages
2,832
I've got a self-inflating 2 inch air mattress that has developed a leak that I can't find. It's pretty slow, takes a few hours to deflate under body weight. I can't feel it, or hear it, nor have I had success with soapy water finding a bubbling spot.

The valve seems OK, but it's such a slow leak, who really knows?

Any other hints, or "stop leak" treatments for the whole mattress?

Thanks,

Phil
 
I'm willing to buy a new one, but I'm also frugal. I'm driving a 12 year old Kia I bought new because it runs just fine with simple maintenance. So I want to see if there is something simple to be done for this mattress.
 
Sounds like the only thing you haven't tried yet is submerging it and looking for bubbles. It's getting closer to swimming weather.... :)

I've found leaks that way that I couldn't find with soap suds.
 
Even if you find the hole, regardless how small it is, that mattress is in the first stages of dying. I slept for about 2 solid years on air mattresses because I liked the fact that they were easy to haul up 3 flights of stairs - I went through about 7 or 8 mattresses* in that time, no joke.

Seriously, go out and buy a new one. The cost will be infinitesimally easier on you than trying to find the hole/patch the hole on a weekly basis.

Here's what you do: goto Walmart or some other Big Box store and buy a new air mattress. Stuff the old mattress into the box and return it. Not a dollar spent and you have a new mattress.

* I don't like discarding items if I can get them in some working condition, but air mattresses are fickle things. Once you find the hole and fix it with adhesive, it usually means that there are there stress points on the mattress
that will eventually give way, especially now that the hole is patched (extra stress on these weak points in the mattress).
 
I've patched an air mattress and gone on using it for a long time (though I admit I wasn't using it every night). The seams go eventually, and sometimes the fabric wears thin, but something sharp (twig, rock) can make a hole in a perfectly good air mattress and all you have to do is patch it.
 
P.S. symphonyincminor, I think you're talking about air beds, aren't you? Not a two-inch thick self inflating air mattress for camping; you're talking about an air bed, the size of a normal mattress and used indoors (and inflated with an electric pump). I don't suppose you have many sharp rocks or twigs in your house, so if one of those starts leaking it probably is worn out.
 
Here's what you do: goto Walmart or some other Big Box store and buy a new air mattress. Stuff the old mattress into the box and return it. Not a dollar spent and you have a new mattress.
Click to expand...

Yow, so you're advocating not only ripping of a company (even if it is Walmart) but some other poor soul who might buy it too?
 
Yep, I was talking about a full-sized air mattress... how would you go about fixing one of those camping-style mattresses in the field if a hole occurs? I know they usually include a small swath of material and low quality bonding adhesive for patching holes, but I've even tried that on holes found at home and found it to be very unreliable. Actually, it's pretty much useless. Duct tape doesn't work. Woe unto thee that gets a hole in their camping mattress in the middle of nowhere with 3 nights left on their camp.

The only thing I've found that works on holes is this thick white bonding adhesive that Locite (I think?) puts out. Works great, but you have to let it set up for a while.

Nothing sucks more than getting up in the middle of the night to find that the bed you're sleeping on deflated. I'd rather sleep on jagged rocks than deal with those damn air mattresses again.
 
Seam grip will make a repair on small holes that lasts and lasts.

I've patched one of my OLD thin camping mattress that got tossed in a cactus patch at the Grand Canyon. It even had an inch and a half tear. All repairs made in the field on that trip including the patch material and glue (not seam grip at that time.) That was over 15 years ago and that one still holds air great.

Cabelas has a a repair tape that works pretty well on many surfaces. I've used some of that for a repair on a pack that has held for a couple of years, as well as a tent rip. It's supposed to be good for some types of inflatables too but I've not tried it there yet.
 
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