Third summer with an Intex 15'x42" pool. Been having trouble with the inflatable ring holding air. Patched a few holes I found and it was holding for about 2 days before I needed to add more air. This morning I woke up to a small flood in the backyard. The ring was completely flat and collapsed and water was pouring out over the edge. I filled with air and it went flat again in about 30 minutes...the problem is the actual valve stem wont seal. Any ideas? I am only going to use this pool this summer....was thinking of just filling the ring with spray foam.......think this will work?

Spray foam would work if you could get it to completely fill the ring. You'll have a lot of voids. That can be overcome but enough foam to fill the ring is going to cost a lot.

It'd never cure unless it's exposed to air. You'd end up with a circular tube of goo, and If it doesn't expand, it won't be bouyant.

If you can find which part of the valve stem is leaking air you could glue it. Maybe this would work, inflate the ring and wrap the valve in duct tape and see if it holds. I wonder if taping jumbo pool noodles to the top would hold the walls up?

I suspected that my valve was the source of the leak. I had an old spark plug boot laying around and stuck in in place of the plastic plug. It fits tight. Unfortunately im still losing air

Well I can be stubborn so I tried the spray foam approach. I bought 2 cans of it for $5.00 each at Home Depot. I cut a small hole into the ring and emptied the can. It actually worked pretty well. It expanded and cured ok but one can only filled maybe an 18" section of the ring. It would be about the same price to just buy a new pool.

Not wanting to give up on the pool yet, I took a visit to the local .99 Cent Store and bought 20 four-foot long foam noodles. I cut slits into the ring and stuffed the noodles inside....they were 3 deep all the way around. I then used blue duct tape to cover my incisions. Well if aesthetics are important to you, I would not go this route. If functionality is, however, it worked like a charm. My pool is back in order with no fear of the ring collapsing and water spilling out. This will get me thru the summer and then I'll pop for another pool for next year.

Assuming they do the same as last year....Big Lots put their leftover pools on sale at 75% off last year once summer was over. I should have bought a new one then...hopeful to find a bargain this year.

FYI....our pool is a 14'x42" Intex

Our ring keeps losing air an I found a tear in the seam of the air valve stem. I have tried the pool sealers to seal it off, but to no avail. I am going to try clear silicone. I assume that this tear comes from the NUMEROUS amount of times we have had to pull the stem out to air up the ring. I too, live in Texas with all of it's blistering heat and so we have to air our ring up everyday.

I have an Intex with a small hole in air ring. I have repaired it 6 times with the kit that came with the pool. It holds air until the sun gets hot then the glue gets soft and the patch lifts letting out the air. Can I use an inner tube patch or am I just out of luck? I don't know what else to do.

My outer ring goes flat 30 mins after blowing it up but the key to not losing any water is to keep your water level below the ring and you wont have anymore problems. I just fill the air when ever i feel like it but if the water levels kept below the ring you can swim around even when its flat.

if you cant find the leak just lower the water level just below the ring and you wont lose any water and you can still swim around even when its flat just dont lean on the sides. mine goes flat 30 mins. after inflation.

i also lost water once then i lowered the water level below the ring and it continues to go flat but i still swim and still have all my water. Im wondering if theres something like a spray on plastic coating we could spray the intire ring with. wouldnt that be cool ?

I just found a 1" tear in the ring of my 42"/15' (14'?) pool. I've got an inflatable toy ring under it with the chlorinator floaty in the middle, an 8" round lid from an empty container on top of that but under the pool ring for support, a small oval patch over the tear, and a roughly 5 -6 " square patch over that, with another lid & a container with water on it for weight. If I can get the rest of this season out of this pool I'll be happy. I'll post how well it works once I find out.

Fingers crossed...

EDIT: Almost 24 hours and it seems to be holding!
Edit #2: Irene put another crack in the ring. It is faded and brittle, this is the last season for this pool, I'm afraid.

Great idea using a stethoscope!

what kind of glue do you recomend cause cement glue for tire patches dont work

You'll have to use vinyl glue. Liner patch kits have it.

What actually works if I feel air coming from the valve? Do I possibly need a bigger plug? Duct tape around the one I have? (Gotta love duct tape!) Silicone (light coating) around the current plug? Please answer or email me at nensea@comcast.net.
Thanks!!

I gave up on patching this stupid ring. At first I had set up a reminder in my phone to reinflate it everyday. But that was tedious. Being an X10 home automation fanatic, I figured it shouldn't be too hard to rig up an auto-inflator using the electric inflator that came with the set. I plugged the inflator hose into the ring and duct-taped it shut. However after an inflation all the air leaks back out of the inflator after it shuts off.
So I went to Lowes and bought some 5/8" clear tubing and a 1/2" pvc check valve. The check valve is spring-loaded and only allows air to flow in one direction. Amazingly everything fit snugly without much hassle. I cut off the little black inflator nozzle and pushed it about a quarter of an inch into the tube. Then plugged it into the ring and taped all around it really good.
Finally I set up a timer with X10 to turn on the pump every hour and run for 30 seconds. So now I have a DIY pool ring auto inflator.
I will try to include some pictures, bear with me this is my first post.

Heck of a 1st post- nice job!

Welcome aboard!

Spectacular, I thought of doing the same but using a normally closed pressure switch. Pressure drops switch turns on. Glad to see someone else with a similar idea. I didn't think of the check valve. Gonna have to get one of those now. Brilliant...

The pressure switch..
http://www.automationdirect.com/static/ ... wtrans.pdf

My air ring started leaking when we had a heat wave with temps at 106 for 4 to 5 days. I have done the soap test & found the air valve was leaking so I cleaned the area & no more bubbles but it is still leaking air somewhere. I have done the bubble test
all over the ring & I did the air pressure thing for the inside of the ring. Thought of it on my own. No leak found but ring is still leaking. It is driving me insane and this is only the second year. I would replace just the pool itself because everything else is fine but I can't find just a 16x42 pool. I have the saltwater system & love it. Do you have ANY suggestions? I don't have a stestascope(?).