[kimbo46]

Has anyone else had problems with their sleep number bed? We have had our bed since 2005 and it is the pillow top just below the top model. The bed will lose its air while we sleep. We did the trouble shooting as they suggested. The bed did not lose air in 48 hours while we had it plugged up and unattached to the motor. They now say we need a new motor for a little over 200$. Now the zipper has broken when we were doing the trouble shooting that they said we needed to do! We have never had to unzipp the bed before! I called the company today and was told that this is also pro-rated and will be around 300$ after they send us a new part and we pay to send it back to the company!
Also, when we unzipped the bed for the first time there was a HUGE wet spot as if someone had peed on the bed. I promise... no one had!! Also, our cousins had a sleep number and when they unzipped theirs, it was full of black mold! The company did send them a new one to apparently keep them quiet. Since then we have heard of the mold being an issue with these beds.
Has anyone else had this kind of difficulties with this bed? I feel with the price near 4000-4500 dollars that they should be more compliant when a customer has issues! I wanted a bed not a car to care for!

[ddramaqueen2]

I amright there with you. We got our bed in Sept. of 2007. We have been plagued with problems. We have had it get lumpy and off sides, smashed looking and uncomfortable as heck. Agree that for the price they should be more accommodating, but we never got responses to our many requests other than "pack it up and we'll send replacement parts" which we have done twice only to have the same problems. The way we see it is that it is a $5000.00 lesson. Never believe what you hear or read. With the bad economy, and their poor product and service, I am sure they will be out of business too. Good Riddance to bad rubbish!

[lspicer]

My husband and I have had our sleep number bed for about 7 years or so... when recently, it began to sink in the middle. We were rolling into the middle so bad, he finally began sleeping on the floor in the living room. This has been going on now for about 2 weeks. I finally, today, in fact, opened up the bed and the same thing, with the wet spot!! As if someone had peed on the bed! Which, we haven't, of course. The remote says it's at 100 on each side, but by just placing weight on the bed - you can see that his side (Left) is way soft. But we are puzzled as to why the bed would be wet! I am calling them today!! We cannot sleep in this bed!

[bart479]

If you own a sleep number bed with 4 hoses that connect the air pump to the air chambers I have a possible solution for you. We have had this bed since 2006 and recently had an issue. One side of the bed tended to lose pressure overnight. I was able to repair a broken part in the air pump and solve the problem without dealing with the manufacturer. The cost was about $22.00 and all parts were available at Home Depot.

With the 4 hose design the two inside hoses provide air to the chambers. The two outside hoses provide air pressure feedback to a pressure sensor on the main circuit board inside the air pump. What had failed in our case was an inexpensive fitting inside the pump on the left feedback hose. Here is how I fixed the problem (and this fix is sturdier than Sleep Numbers original design). I decided to fix both sides of the system since I was doing it anyway.

1. Unplug the pump from wall socket.
2. Turn box over and remove visible screws from recessed sockets. Using a small flat blade screwdriver pry out rubber pads from the 4 corners of the unit. There are screws under the rubber pads, remove the 4 screws there.
3. Open the pump housing , the top will pop right off if all screws are removed.
4. Locate main circuit board and locate white air valve actuator (white box connected to 4 plastic air hoses) under the board.
5. Remove 3 screws attaching board to air valve actuator.
6. Remove 2 screws attaching air valve actuator to pump housing.
7. Carefully remove main board from air valve actuator and remove two small gray silicone air lines. (wrap in small piece of cloth or use some means to protect board from damage).
8. Lift rear of air valve actuator and slide back towards center of pump housing.
9. Disconnect single short hose that connects air pump to air valve actuator.
10. Now, look at the outside hoses where they enter the pump housing. You'll see the clear plastic hose and a small nipple that serves to connect the small gray silicone hose from the clear 3/8" air hose to an air pressure sensor on the circuit board. In our case the nylon fitting had broken off where the clear plastic hose entered the housing. This caused leakage from the sensor line and the bed to slowly deflate. That's the bad news. The good news is that the broken fitting is not a functioning part of the air valve actuator box, it is simply attached to it. The function of the fitting is simply to be an attachment point for the 1/2" plastic air hose and the small silicone hose that runs to the circuit board. If yours is broken you can simply bypass it as follows.

First carefully cut the 3/8" clear air hose at the outside of the case and remove the air hose. Just the two outside hoses, NOT the inside air feed hoses. Be careful not to damage the end that attaches to the air chambers on your bed.

Go to Home Depot or a good hardware store. You will need the following to fix both the left and right fittings. So buy two of each of the following. These are brass plumbing adapters.

1/8" barb x 1/4 MIP adapter (MIP means "male iron pipe")
3/8" barb x 1/4 MIP adapter
1/4" FIP pipe coupling (FIP stands for female iron pipe)
small hose clamps to secure the 3/8 clear plastic hose to the adapter
also pick up a roll of teflon tape and a length of silicone hose to replace the gray stuff originally used by sleep number. If the hardware store doesn't have the silicone hose any good auto parts store will stock it. 1 foot will be plenty.

Assemble the adapter so that the small barb is inside the pump case and the coupling/ large barb points out for attachment to the clear air hose. You will notice that there is a small "air hose mounting plate" that attaches to the pump housing. I assembled the new fittings by placing the 1/8" barb inside the mounting plate and threading the 1/4 MIP threads through the plate and into the coupling. When tightened the new fitting is secure to the mounting plate. This makes a neat installation.

Once the new adapters have been installed, attach the clear air hose to the 3/8" hose barb. Put the hose clamps loosely on the hose first. The hose can then be dipped into hot water (right out of the tap) or heated with a heat gun (just warm!) to soften it. Once warm it will slide right on. Tighten the clamp.

When both sides are done reattach the mounting plate to the pump housing by sliding it along the 4 hoses . Reassemble the air valve actuator and circuit board to the pump housing and reattach the air hose from the pump to the air valve actuator. Attach an appropriate length of silicone hose from the new 1/8" hose barbs to the air pressure sensors on the circuit board. The board is labeled "right" and Left" so make sure the hoses are connected to the correct fittings If you want, a couple of small wire ties can help secure the silicone hose to the fittings.

Now, temporarily put the cover on the pump housing, attach the air hoses to the air chambers and op-test the system. Ours functioned perfectly. Secure top to pump housing when finished.

Hopefully this will help someone out there with a similar problem. If I saved you a couple of hundred dollars then all the better! The reason I took an hour of my time to post this is that I'm very disappointed in Sleep Number. IMO they used an inferior unreinforced nylon fitting that any engineer would realize is prone to fatigue. The fitting is bound to fail but not within the 2 year full warranty period. When these fittings do eventually fail Sleep Number profits again by selling new pumps or repair services. For what they charge for the bed, this business practice is not acceptable.

[bart479]

Note in step #10 I there is a typo that references "1/2" plastic air hose. That should read 3/8". My apologies for any confusion that may have caused.

[lspicer]

When I bought our sleep number bed for a couple of thousand dollars,
I didn't know I was buying a used car. I don't want to have to "repair" my bed every time a part wears out! When my sleep number bed had the problems it did... (right side lost air and also found condensation wet spot under the foam) I didn't even call them to tell them. I didn't want to have to jump through a dozen hoops and still have to sleep on the floor! I gave it to Salvation army and bought a latex bed - one I won't have to FIX!

[bart479]

Well, you do have a point there ispicer. We don't have the issue with the condensation. The bed is comfortable and looking over the pump assembly it's not poorly made overall. It's just that the cheap fittings really stick out like a sore thumb. I'll bet that the repair I've described, that takes maybe an hour to do is worth it for folks out there that are reasonable handy.

[lnwhitaker]

Bart, Thanks for your posting about fixing the pump connection. It just saved me about $200. Found all the parts at my local Home Depot and was able to get it up and working pretty fast. Your are right, the pump is OK, just cheap connections for the hoses.

[lnwhitaker]

Here is a picture of the fix to the broken hose connection. Note. I only repaired the broken hose and not touch the one that still worked.

[lnwhitaker]

Attachment 45378

[Maynurd]

bart479... thank you so very much for posting this about the 4 hose air pump. I had the exact problem on a unit I purchased in 2006.

I followed your directions (easy to follow and completely accurate), and now have a completely repaired and perfectly functioning air pump.

The best part of it all is the minimal cost, less than $25.00... and Sleep Number didn't get a penny! :-)

No shipping and waiting for an expensive $300 refurbished unit.

Got it repaired in one day. I agree the fix is much stronger than the original... likely will last many more years.

Thank you, again