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  • Find a pesky leak in an air mattress

    Hello,

    I have a coleman air mattress that has a slow leak somewhere, and I can't find it. I had stored the mattress, folded up nicely and neatly in the fall, and one of the wife's pesky felines found it and decided it makes a nice bed. I found about 6 little pin hole leaks and patched them, but there is still one more leak that I can't locate. The mattress has one of those velvety tops, or I'd just put the thing in water. Does anyone know of another way to ferret out a slow leak, one that takes about 8 hours to render the mattress flat?

    Thanks.

  • #2
    Re: Find a pesky leak in an air mattress

    I googled bike tire punctures/leaks; I would think it's similar. Several sites suggest over-inflating, which enlarges the hole, making it easier to find. Here's one site:
    http://www.sheldonbrown.com/flats.html
    Total nights sleeping outdoors in 2013: 28

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    • #3
      Re: Find a pesky leak in an air mattress

      Mix dish soap and water in a spray bottle. Inflate air mattress and spray the soap/water mixture over the air mattress. The leak should produce bubbles. Mark where the leak is and dry off air mattress to repair with patch kit.

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      • #4
        Re: Find a pesky leak in an air mattress

        ditto shawnbebout. The mixture will produce air bubbles for sure! The easiest and simplest way to test an air mattress for leaks! End of story! Excellent shawn!
        Get campin', Renodesertfox A canvas campateer
        Campin' Here Between Campouts! Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult

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        • #5
          Re: Find a pesky leak in an air mattress

          Thanks everyone for the replies. I know what I'll be doing for the next couple hours.

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          • #6
            Re: Find a pesky leak in an air mattress

            Check the air valve! I have encountered leaks here before, especially on 'self-inflator' pads.
            Longtime Motorcycle Camper. Getting away from it all on two wheels! :cool:

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            • #7
              Re: Find a pesky leak in an air mattress

              another good thing to use is the stuff that kids use to blow bubbles with. But that is really just soap and water.

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              • #8
                Re: Find a pesky leak in an air mattress

                Originally posted by shawnbebout View Post
                Mix dish soap and water in a spray bottle. Inflate air mattress and spray the soap/water mixture over the air mattress. The leak should produce bubbles. Mark where the leak is and dry off air mattress to repair with patch kit.
                You beat me to it. Treat it like a slow leak in a tire.

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                • #9
                  Re: Find a pesky leak in an air mattress

                  I just plan on buying a new one every other year. I always have a spare in camp. Nothing worse than waking up to a deflated mattress!
                  FlashLantern turns your flashlight into a lantern!

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                  • #10
                    Re: Find a pesky leak in an air mattress

                    I have an over sized Coleman air mattress. I stored it in a canvass duffel bag over the Winter. I took it out this past weekend and it now has a slow leak. I used soapy water and I cannot find a leak. Is there a chance that the seams are leaking? Can they be resealed?

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                    • #11
                      Re: Find a pesky leak in an air mattress

                      +1 To Hogsnapper's "ultimate solution" to leaks!
                      Last edited by tplife; 06-24-2013, 02:06 PM.
                      “People have such a love for the truth that when they happen to love something else, they want it to be the truth; and because they do not wish to be proven wrong, they refuse to be shown their mistake. And so, they end up hating the truth for the sake of the object which they have come to love instead of the truth.”
                      ―Augustine of Hippo, Fifth Century A.D.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Find a pesky leak in an air mattress

                        Originally posted by shawnbebout View Post
                        Mix dish soap and water in a spray bottle. Inflate air mattress and spray the soap/water mixture over the air mattress. The leak should produce bubbles. Mark where the leak is and dry off air mattress to repair with patch kit.
                        Great to know that the same trick for finding a house gas leak works for an air mattress! Thanks for the heads up.
                        2017:

                        July 3 to July 16- annual kiddo trip
                        Aug 2 to Aug 14- adult trip to recover from kiddos' outing. Bring on the Campari!



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                        • #13
                          Re: Find a pesky leak in an air mattress

                          That trick will work for anything that holds air pressure. Auto tires, air mattresses, air pipes/hoses. I carry a plug kit and a small air compressor in my truck, so I can fix my flat if have one. If you are interested in learning how you can youtube it.
                          Nights camped in 2019: 24
                          Nights camped in 2018: 24

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                          • #14
                            Re: Find a pesky leak in an air mattress

                            if you are lucky enough to find the hole, stick a toothpick through the hole to mark it. Usually, if you use soap or some other wet method to find the hole, you can't mark it with a pen

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                            • #15
                              Re: Find a pesky leak in an air mattress

                              Originally posted by HogSnapper
                              I've probably owned 8 or 9 air mattresses. Mostly queen size but some twin size. Out of those, I was only able to find and repair the leak in one mattress. All the others - the leak was so small that it is completely undetectable. I have a swimming pool and I've tried both the soap spray and submerging the air mattress to no avail.

                              As a last resort, I have also put a half gallon of water with a little soap inside the air mattress, pumped it up very very tight, laid it out on a wooden floor, and then rolled around on the mattress and then looked for any water leaking out onto the floor - did that for both sides with zero luck - the leaks are just too small. This implies that the leaks are at the seams and are an inherent flaw in the design/quality control of these mattresses and it doesn't seem to be limited to one brand or size. This is not a one-off finding either - it has been going on for at least the last 20 years that I can remember. The worst part about this is that even if you can find them, these leaks along the seam are unrepairable.

                              I'll never buy an air mattress again without a lifetime warranty.
                              I agree complete and doubt I'd buy one with a life time warranty. Myself, I don't like the way they feel.

                              (A Little Humor at Hogsnapper) 8 or 9 air beds? I thought I was a slow learner with 3 of them. LOL

                              I have a few Rigid Rests, one Therma Rest and a Cabelas outfitters bedroll. The bedroll is not backpacker friendly, but is frozen ground and my back friendly. (Had three disks fused in 2008)

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