Had an air mattress fail in a spectacular way

[y_p_w]

I bought it in 2014 - a basic queen sized Intex which was used staying over at a rental property once, when we have guests (read relatives) staying over, and camping. But recently I set it up in the living room and my kid's been playing on it (kind of like a bounce house) and watching TV on it. But then it sprung a leak a few days ago and we found the leak. I thought that I fixed it (at least temporarily) with duct tape (couldn't find the adhesive patch that came in the box) although sometimes it seemed to leak a little depending on how the tape was applied. But then I decided to pump it after the leak seemed sealed, using a hand pump. All of sudden it went poof and one of the cross beams looked like it separated internally. It's almost like a pillow now because it one the one at a far edge.

I figured I got a good 8 years out of it, and a new one costs less than $20. However, had these things leak, including one from Coleman. Never had one separate internally though.

 

[jeepman3071]

I pretty much gave up on them. Went camping a few years back with a significant other with an air mattress. It was working perfect for 2 nights, no leaks, and then one morning we both woke up on the ground. No sharp objects near it, we were well under the weight rating (me 150, her 110) and it wouldn't pump back up. A seam around the edge just started leaking. I had another one that worked fine for about a year before it would slowly start losing air. It would be fine for a few hours then completely deflate. Patches only work temporarily.

 

[tmorris1]

You said your kids were using it as a bounce house. There is your problem and why it failed...

 

[Chris Meutsch]

You said your kids were using it as a bounce house. There is your problem and why it failed...

Beat me to it.

I have an Amazon queen double-high. Yes it loses a slight amount of air, but over the past 4 years, it's solid when needed and I can't complain. I think it's a crapshoot on air beds, honestly. Just don't have the tax deductions jump on them!

 

[KGMtech]

We've never had a air mattress last through the night without leaking down enough to call it flat. Multiple brands, never abused, they just all seem to be junk. The biggest person using these is under 190 pounds, so it's never an overloading scenario.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

I killed my side of our king-sized Sleep Number bed a few years ago. I woke up laying on the box spring, uncomfortable and very confused. lol

 

[Kira]

Over the course of years I've concluded that air mattresses, to be well made, would be extremely expensive.

Also, ask me what I think of "Wonder mattresses and Life Changing pillows". They come and they go.

 

[wpod]

Any one remember waterbeds?

 

[y_p_w]

Any one remember waterbeds?

I mentioned rental properties. One of the important things of being a landlord in California is a requirement (if the property is new enough) to allow waterbeds as long as the renter takes out an insurance policy for the possibility that it leaks. A lot of landlords don't have this signed, but it's supposed to be a requirement. I got my rental agreements out of a California specific set of rental document templates. Some of my tenants were like "OK - what's this for?" and I told them that I was required to give them the option to have a waterbed by law.

California Tenant Right to Have Waterbed – American Landlord

americanlandlord.com

But if an air mattress leaks so what?

 

[Wolf359]

I mentioned rental properties. One of the important things of being a landlord in California is a requirement (if the property is new enough) to allow waterbeds as long as the renter takes out an insurance policy for the possibility that it leaks. A lot of landlords don't have this signed, but it's supposed to be a requirement. I got my rental agreements out of a California specific set of rental document templates. Some of my tenants were like "OK - what's this for?" and I told them that I was required to give them the option to have a waterbed by law.

California Tenant Right to Have Waterbed – American Landlord

americanlandlord.com

But if an air mattress leaks so what?

I think it's still in our standard lease, forgot all about it. Basically says no waterbeds. I don't think I've seen one in a house although normally you don't check the mattress anyway and if they look like a regular mattress, you wouldn't be able to tell. Science fiction writer Robert A Heinlein actually invented the water bed so that when they were first commercially produced, the first maker was denied a patent as it had already been described by Heinlein in his novels.

 

[y_p_w]

So I ended up getting what I could find to replace it - a Bestway "queen sized" one, although it does seem kind of small. It has traditional dimpled cross beams rather than the lengthwise beams in the Intex one.

Bestway is like this. It's round cross beams that also cross with dimples.

Only this one sprung a leak within a week. At first tiny, but I tried using a piece of the adhesive patch that came with it, and that didn't work. When I removed it, the leak turned from a small 1mm hole into a 1 inch tear. I ended up getting some Loctite vinyl repair adhesive to try and fix it. A little scary since it had MEK and smells like it. It's really thin too. I saw the instructions said to use a piece of cloth underneath if the repair was large, but I couldn't fit it inside since the tear was right at the dimple seam. So I just gooped it on and hoped that it would stay. It's kind of weird because it causes the material to get wavy since it seems to sort of penetrate and soften the vinyl. I probably should have used masking tape too to limit where it covered. Hopefully it holds, or maybe I'll need to apply some more.

 

[y_p_w]

Only this one sprung a leak within a week. At first tiny, but I tried using a piece of the adhesive patch that came with it, and that didn't work. When I removed it, the leak turned from a small 1mm hole into a 1 inch tear. I ended up getting some Loctite vinyl repair adhesive to try and fix it. A little scary since it had MEK and smells like it. It's really thin too. I saw the instructions said to use a piece of cloth underneath if the repair was large, but I couldn't fit it inside since the tear was right at the dimple seam. So I just gooped it on and hoped that it would stay. It's kind of weird because it causes the material to get wavy since it seems to sort of penetrate and soften the vinyl. I probably should have used masking tape too to limit where it covered. Hopefully it holds, or maybe I'll need to apply some more.

I didn't quite give it the full 24 hours before inflating, but it seems to be holding really well. Doesn't look perfect like the illustration, but I don't really care. I figure that it was a good investment because it's probably going to spring a leak again and this stuff works way better than self-stick patches even though it takes a while to cure. I understand that bounce houses are fixed with this kind of stuff, although they usually put on a patch with the same material and possibly sew it together before applying the sealant.

 

[y_p_w]

I didn't quite give it the full 24 hours before inflating, but it seems to be holding really well. Doesn't look perfect like the illustration, but I don't really care. I figure that it was a good investment because it's probably going to spring a leak again and this stuff works way better than self-stick patches even though it takes a while to cure. I understand that bounce houses are fixed with this kind of stuff, although they usually put on a patch with the same material and possibly sew it together before applying the sealant.

Sprung another tiny leak. This time I masked if off to form a little triangle where I just dropped a little but of the repair adhesive, and I'm hoping that it doesn't tear.