Exped Air Mattress Leak

[TOS]

Didn't see a better place to post this without starting a new thread....
I've had my insulated Exped Air Mattress for about 10 years now. It has the separate inflate and deflate valves on it. It's been a good little mattress except for last few years, an occasional slow leaking of air.
Since air pressure leaking was sporadic, I kept thinking maybe it was losing air because of temperature changes- kinda like our tire pressures change with < > temps. After my recent camping excursion, 2 of 3 nights the mattress was to low of pressure to be comfortable after 5-6 hours.
I was dreading trying to find and patch or even worse buying a new mattress. So, I looked on YouTube for some ideas. My lucky day, first vid was a guy from Australia that recommended always checking the mattress valves first (most common place for leaks). Use wet sponge with dish soap to find leak. For me it was the inflate valve leaking in 2 places 180* from each other, much better than a punctured mattress...
The valve on the YouTube mattress had an O-ring. The guy recommended removing O-Ring and wrap cap with PTFE tape, then replace O-ring and check for leaks again.
My Exped valve caps have no O-rings, but some small raised rings on the caps that plug into the valve openings. I wrapped the inflate valve with the PTFE tape (double thickness), re-inflated mattress, folded it over to increase pressure, then applied soapy water to check for leaking.
Good results, no leaking at all !!
I will now pack a little roll of PTFE tape in the bag with my air pump and hope my Exped last another 10 years.
Happy Camping....

 

[SMSW]

My air mattress leaks a bit too, but it seems to be temperature dependent. The valve (vinyl, I think) gets softer with increasing temps, and hard and less pliable when cold - thus probably not sealing as well. I simply grab my batt powered inflator and give it a few seconds boost when nature calls in the middle of the night. Not a big deal.

 

[ST-Traveler]

Mine was leaking also but not such an easy fix.
I submersed it in water and there were a million tiny holes leaking air. Material degradation from years of use. After I threw it in the garbage and bought a new one, I read where this was a common problem and you can send them back and get a new one.

 

[Mellow]

Mine was leaking also but not such an easy fix.
I submersed it in water and there were a million tiny holes leaking air. Material degradation from years of use. After I threw it in the garbage and bought a new one, I read where this was a common problem and you can send them back and get a new one.

Yep... I had a delamination on my first one and they sent a replacement... then pumped that one up a few years later on a newly built picnic table at a campground and got a few small splinter holes in it... after submerging in the bathtub I found and patched them with just the included cement.. didn't think that would work but it did.

 

[TOS]

My air mattress leaks a bit..... I simply grab my batt powered inflator and give it a few seconds boost when nature calls in the middle of the night. Not a big deal.

I just hate to run the inflator in middle of the night with others camped close by...
Wake them up and their "nature call" may be on your tent.