Crappy sleeper sofa air mattress

jaykat

Member
Just curious if anybody else has had problems with the air mattress that comes from the factory in the sleeper sofa? We purchased our BigHorn in March of last year, but only attempted to use the sleeper sofa for the first time 2 weeks ago. The mattress inflated just like it was supposed to, but after my son tried to sleep on it, it completely deflated. He ended up sleeping on the living room floor. I contacted Heartland last week and supplied pictures. They in turn contacted the supplier who told Heartland/us that it only had a 1 year warranty and it was out of warranty. When I asked the Heartland rep if Heartland would stand by the product, I was told no, and our only recourse was to purchase a replacement air mattress. It sure upsets me to spend as much money as we did for our new RV and have to replace the air mattress when it had never been inflated/slept on.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Have you checked the deflate plug on the end of the mattress to be sure if out is properly seated and tight?

Peace
Dave

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Garypowell

Well-known member
You might also have a small hole. On both my HL's there was a repair kit in the drawer under the couch. But I would assume any air matress repair kit might work.
 

Bobby A

Well-known member
Is Flair still the manufacture ?? I know early on they were having problems with pinch points that would put a small hole in the air mattress but I have heard Flair was real good about sending out replacements. Did Heartland switch suppliers ?? Maybe another call to the supplier or Heartland and ask for a little understanding and good will jesture.
 

jaykat

Member
Thanks all for the replies. We've checked the deflate plug and it was properly seated and tight. I'm suspecting it is a small hole of some sort because it took awhile for it to deflate. And yes, Flair is still the supplier, but they don't manufacture them. I've contacted them and since it is out of warranty they will not replace. They suggest that I purchase a replacement from them. I guess at this point, we have 2 choices, either find the hole, fix it, and hope the patch holds or find a suitable replacement. I just still think it is crappy!! I guess the moral to this story is to try everything in the RV within the warranty period. Lesson learned. Even though I was hoping for another solution from Heartland.
 

berky

Well-known member
Is your mattress the kind with the built-in inflator? My inflator has a 3-position rotary control knob - inflate, off, deflate. Once in a while the knob doesn't seat properly when turned from inflate to off, allowing a leak at the knob. I just rotate the knob to inflate and back again one more time, and that takes care of the leak at the knob.

FWIW, we have a lot of air mattresses that we use quarterly for a community service housing project. In the first 3 years of operation over 10% of the mattresses have developed leaks. These are mattresses made by a well-known camping supply company. So it would seem some leaks are just the nature of the beast.
 

Gaffer

Well-known member
Mine does not hold air. I took it off and use a queen size air bed in it's place. Works just fine.
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
Thank goodness we have a regular sleeper sofa mattress. You are right that you should try everything during the warranty period. Do not expect free replacement after the warranty. If there is, then you are fortunate. I have read about numerous issues with the air mattress in the sleeper sofas.
 

bowhunt73

Active Member
I just used mine for the "second" time only and there is a hole in it. The patch didn't hold that I attempted. On the bed frame there is a very sharp thin clamp or something for taking the frame apart. The velcro cover slightly moved and allowed the bed to hit the thin metal piece that you would push in to take the frame apart and now I have a leak. I'm going to attempt to patch it again. The wife said she is going to call them. I told her good luck with that. If that velcro cover moves more than 1 or 2 inches the mattress will hit that thin metal. I guess I have some proofing to do on that frame.
 

Theresau

Well-known member
We had this for close to 4 years in our 2010 BH with no problem and used it very frequently. However, we always placed the mattress back in the bag before closing up the sofa. It never got pinched.

You can purchase a replacement for about $100. Do a search on Flair air mattress.

Since the BC has a regular sofa bed we insisted on the air mattress being included (deal breaker for us...). The mattress in the regular sofa bed is pretty "lame" to say the least. We now put the air mattress on top of the sofa bed mattress and it works well but we do miss having it stored in the sofa (as well as the drawer beneath for linens). We store the air mattress now in storage under the bedroom bed.

We did try to keep the air mattress stored in the regular sofa bed (over the mattress) and we ended up pinching it. We used soapy water to find the small holes and used a regular patch kit (found the one that came with it later :)). We've had no problems at all since.
 

Chainsaw

Saskatchewan Chapter Leader
We used ours for the first time in 4 years ( brother in law came to drive me home, had no idea how to set up or take down, found na short learning curve, B inlaw says it was ggreat.
 

Dave

Traveling Two
Throw the entire couch and mattress out, replace it with a couple of comfortable reclining chairs. Use a air mattress when you need to, works great for us.
Thanks all for the replies. We've checked the deflate plug and it was properly seated and tight. I'm suspecting it is a small hole of some sort because it took awhile for it to deflate. And yes, Flair is still the supplier, but they don't manufacture them. I've contacted them and since it is out of warranty they will not replace. They suggest that I purchase a replacement from them. I guess at this point, we have 2 choices, either find the hole, fix it, and hope the patch holds or find a suitable replacement. I just still think it is crappy!! I guess the moral to this story is to try everything in the RV within the warranty period. Lesson learned. Even though I was hoping for another solution from Heartland.
 

TXTiger

Well-known member
I have used mine several times with no problems. Always zip it up in its storage bag before folding up the couch. When I had a tent before I bought my Cyclone I went thru many air mattresses and always got holes. This one seems to be better.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
We used ours the first time this winter, when I got sick. DH slept on the couch-bed. After the first night he said we have a leak. I remembered posts about the deflation valve, and sure enough, it was not tight. Once tightened, it held air fine for the next 3 nights he slept on it.


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jaykat

Member
Thanks again for all of the input. I found the pinhole and patched it. We tested it and it seemed to hold. Hopefully, the patch will hold and we won't have to replace it. We've put it back in the bag and folded up the bed. I guess only time will tell.
 

mallard29s

Active Member
Thanks again for all of the input. I found the pinhole and patched it. We tested it and it seemed to hold. Hopefully, the patch will hold and we won't have to replace it. We've put it back in the bag and folded up the bed. I guess only time will tell.

If the patch does not hold, try a pool liner repair. You can get the kits at any retailer, and will provide a permanent repair.

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