View Full Version : I can't find the hole in my Neoair!!!
I have a very slow leak, but enough to want to fix. After 2 hours with me lying on it, it's not flat, but getting pretty soft, and if I were sleeping on it, it'd be waking me up because I turn a lot. I put it in the bathtub, and then tried the swimming pool, using my goggles to go under it. I haven't found that bubbling. I'm thinking that I either have to return to the pool with someone heavy along to lie on it so that it bubbles faster, or just sleep on it at home every night in hopes that the hole will get bigger.
Anyone else have any good ideas?
Wendy P.
Partially fill it then roll it up from the end to creat pressure. Spray with window cleaner and look for growing bubbles. You can also use kids bubbles instead of window cleaner. Much easier then trying to manhandle in a pool. Another alternative is too blow up as firm as possible, put on some weight and spray down with window cleaner. This is my method for very slow leaks. Good luck.
FatHead64
04-23-2013, 16:28
Partially fill it then roll it up from the end to creat pressure. Spray with window cleaner and look for growing bubbles. You can also use kids bubbles instead of window cleaner. Much easier then trying to manhandle in a pool. Another alternative is too blow up as firm as possible, put on some weight and spray down with window cleaner. This is my method for very slow leaks. Good luck.
+1 - Homemade Snoop!
Don't forget to turn it over, check along the sides & along any seams.
In the time it has taken to find the leak, you could have had a replacement covered under the warranty.
Hey! Neighbor! I'm in Houston also.
Wayne
DeerPath
04-23-2013, 16:39
I had that problem with mine and it turned out I was not tighten the valve enough.:datz
Feral Bill
04-23-2013, 16:43
I had an old Thermarest with the same problem. I suspect DEET induced porasity. Finally ditched it.
max patch
04-23-2013, 16:48
Liquid dish soap and water in a spray bottle.
Found the pin leak in my car tire Saturday using that.
I've been sleeping on an air mattress at home for about a year now lol and I've gotten many holes in them. All you have to do is go in a quit room and fill it with as much air as possible and while listening for the leak slowly move your hand around over it. Its very easy and shouldn't take more than 5 minutes. Theres no reason to put soapy water on it or whatever,
Feral Bill
04-23-2013, 17:11
If the leak is slow enough, and not a single point, It may not be find-able. Seriously.
There is another possibility.When it becomes soft and you blow it up again , does it then remain hard ?
The point here is that it can simply be that you blow in warmer then air temperature air so it will go soft when it cools down.
This is much more noticeable with the thicker mats. (more air inside)
Wise Old Owl
04-23-2013, 17:39
hmmm new trail name... slow leak.
atraildreamer
04-23-2013, 19:28
I had that problem with mine and it turned out I was not tighten the valve enough.:datz
Ditto on the valve. It may be defective, or have some dirt in it.
daddytwosticks
04-24-2013, 07:17
Bought my large neoair Xlite at REI. If it developes a leak through no fault of my own, it's going back ASAP. :)
"If the leak is slow enough, and not a single point, It may not be find-able. Seriously."
+1, or at least I too have a Neo-air that I have to reinflate maybe once in the middle of the night. I've held it under water bit by bit a couple of different times, watching very carefully. The leak is so very slow that I never see a bubble.
I'd love to be shown to be wrong on that, but my intuition is that if I go to the trouble of spraying window cleaner on it, all I'll end up with is a modest mess to clean up and some (more) wasted time.
+1, or at least I too have a Neo-air that I have to reinflate maybe once in the middle of the night. I've held it under water bit by bit a couple of different times, watching very carefully. The leak is so very slow that I never see a bubble.
I'd love to be shown to be wrong on that, but my intuition is that if I go to the trouble of spraying window cleaner on it, all I'll end up with is a modest mess to clean up and some (more) wasted time.
Quite easy to clean up, just hose it down. The reason that I have had better luck with window cleaner (or similiar) is because you can keep the mat compressed if you put weight on it. This allows the time for slow leakers to show up.
FarmerChef
04-24-2013, 15:39
There is another possibility.When it becomes soft and you blow it up again , does it then remain hard ?
The point here is that it can simply be that you blow in warmer then air temperature air so it will go soft when it cools down.
This is much more noticeable with the thicker mats. (more air inside)
Oooh, that's a good point. Especially if the temperature drop from the time you inflated it to the time you noticed it went soft was significant. The best way I can think of to rule this out is to inflate it inside your house. Let it sit for a while to equalize with room temp. Then inflate some more. Then put weight on it and see if it still gets soft. If it does then there is air getting out somewhere. But if not, then either you covered the hole with your weight :P or it was a temperature differential.
+1 on soapy solution or windex. Yes you have to wash it when done but that's what showers or a hose are for. :D
If the leak is slow enough, and not a single point, It may not be find-able. Seriously.
+1
It is probably an imperfect seam that is leaking very slowly. I would try to return it to Cascade Designs and get a replacement. They would probably consider this a manufacturing defect and all you will pay is the shipping to them.
greginmi
05-05-2013, 09:27
Return it to Cascade Designs.
I messed around for a couple weeks trying to find a slow leak in my Neoair original without success using many of the methods mentioned here.
Sent it back to CD and got new Neoair Xlite for cost of shipping.
Regards,
Greg
Tipi Walter
05-05-2013, 12:17
Dump this pad. Dump all NeoAirs. Or as Germain Tourist says---"NEVER trust a NeoAir!!" See link---
http://christine-on-big-trip.blogspot.com/2013/01/winter-hiking-lessons-learned.html
It could be from a loose seam. I saw a video on youtube where the guy ironed it to shorten his pad im sure that would also do the trick to reseal the seam.
Liquid dish soap and water in a spray bottle. Found the pin leak in my car tire Saturday using that.
Exactly. Bubbly soapy water on the pad will show you the location.
Feral Bill
05-06-2013, 22:56
Exactly. Bubbly soapy water on the pad will show you the location. Not necessarily. See posts 9 and 18 above.
PD230SOI
05-07-2013, 12:19
Having found tons of leaks in tires due to all sorts of things; I would use the tub and maybe some soapy water. Never failed for me.....