Inflatable Hot Tub Losing Air? It's Probably Not a Puncture

By Jake Weber · Published September 24, 2026

If your inflatable hot tub feels softer than it did yesterday, don’t reach for the patch kit yet. Air shrinks as it cools, so a tub that’s firm on a warm afternoon will feel noticeably softer on a cold morning — no hole required. Rule out temperature swings first, check the air valve second, and only then go hunting for a real leak with soapy water. Here’s the whole process in order.

That order matters, because declaring “it’s punctured!” too early means crawling around the shell looking for a hole that may not exist.

Safety note: check your pump against the 2024 recall. In September 2024 the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of about 866,000 Bestway AirJet and HydroJet spa pumps sold with SaluSpa, Coleman and Hydro-Force spas from May 2021 to May 2024, because they can overheat and catch fire (recall 24-359). Before troubleshooting anything below, read the model number on the label on the side or back of your pump. The recalled models are P05332, P05339, P05711, P05807, P07000, P07001, P05511, P07034 and P07572. If yours is one of them, stop using it and follow the CPSC recall notice or Bestway’s recall page for a free replacement or a refund. The SaluSpa pump recall guide walks through the label check and what to do next.

Why does my inflatable hot tub keep losing air?

Three possibilities, cheapest to check first:

1. It’s not actually losing air — the air is contracting. Basic physics: air takes up less space when it cools down, and Bestway’s own manual says day-to-night temperature changes shift the pressure in the spa and can cause a certain amount of deflation. Your tub gets inflated once, then rides the temperature rollercoaster every single day — warm afternoons, cold nights, hot water inside warming the walls, then cooling. The pressure inside moves with all of it. Many owners describe the same pattern: soft and wrinkly-looking at 7 a.m., firm again by mid-afternoon without anyone touching it. That’s not a leak. That’s weather.
2. The air valve is letting a little out. Before you inspect a single inch of wall, check the valve — it’s the one spot on the whole tub that’s designed to let air in and out, and the manual itself says to check it carefully for leaks before inflation.
3. There’s a genuine leak. A puncture, a worn spot, or a seam problem. Real, findable, and usually patchable — but genuinely the last thing to assume, not the first.

The colder your nights, the bigger the morning droop. If you’re running the tub into fall and winter, expect the effect to get more dramatic — that’s one of several things that change with the season, and the winter guide covers the rest.

One caution while we’re on temperature: if you top the air up on a cold morning until it’s drum-tight, that same air will expand as the day warms, and Bestway warns that over-inflating the liner can damage the structure. Firm is the goal, not rock-hard at dawn. Your manual gives the inflation target for your model — the SaluSpa AirJet Plus manual, for example, lists 7–10 PSI (0.48–0.69 bar) for the Vancouver but 1.2 PSI (0.08 bar) for the Milan, so check your own manual rather than borrowing a number.

Topping up a filled tub has its own procedure, because the pump does the inflating. On the SaluSpa, the manual says to block the hoses so water can’t escape, disconnect the pump, and screw on the cap (P00217) so water can’t come out of the air pipe. Unplug the pump before you disconnect anything, and don’t use a recalled pump for this at all.

Is it losing air or leaking water?

These get lumped together constantly, and they’re completely different problems:

• Losing air = the inflated wall or the air valve. The tub feels soft, looks saggy or wrinkled, but the ground around it is dry.
• Leaking water = the connections — the couplings and fittings where the pump meets the spa, a drain valve, or a tear that goes through to the water side. You’ll see a wet patch, a drip, or a slowly falling water line.

Quick sorting test: is anything wet that shouldn’t be? A soft wall with dry surroundings is an air issue — keep reading. A puddle under the pump connections or a dropping water level is a water issue. The manual’s fix for leaking adapters: unplug the pump, insert the stopper caps on the spa ports so the water can’t escape, disconnect the pump and check the seals are in place and seated correctly, then reconnect, hand-tighten the adapters and remove the caps. If it comes with a flow code on the panel, the error codes guide is your next stop.

How do I find the leak in my inflatable hot tub?

Work this in order. Every step is cheaper and faster than the one after it, and most searches end early.

1. Rule out temperature first. Top the tub up to firm (the procedure above), note the time and roughly how it feels, and check it again at the same time tomorrow — same time means similar temperature, which makes it a fair comparison. Only soft on cold mornings and fine by afternoon? Physics, not a puncture — you’re done. Noticeably softer at the same time in similar weather, day after day? Keep going.
2. Check the air valve. Make sure it’s fully closed and seated the way your manual describes, and that the cap is on. Then put some soapy water (a squirt of dish soap in a cup of water) over the valve and watch for thirty seconds; that soapy-water check is the manual’s own test. Growing bubbles mean escaping air — and many owners find their “leak” starts and ends right here. If the valve is loose, the SaluSpa manual has you deflate the spa first, then tighten it with the supplied wrench while holding the back of the valve from inside the wall. Don’t over-tighten, and never adjust it while the spa is in use. No bubbles? Move on.
3. Soapy-water the tub, one section at a time. This is the classic trick many owners swear by: sponge or spray a mix of dish soap and water over the wall, and a leak will blow steady, growing bubbles at the exact spot. Do it methodically — mentally divide the tub into quarters and finish one before starting the next, hitting the top ring, the outer wall, and around any fittings. Random spot-checking is how you miss a pinhole. When you find bubbles, dry the area and mark the spot with a piece of tape or a marker, because a pinhole is nearly impossible to find twice.
4. Nothing yet? Go quiet and go slow. For leaks too small to bubble obviously, some owners report finding them by ear in a quiet moment — a faint hiss — or by moving a wet hand slowly along the wall to feel for a thin stream of air. Then confirm the suspect spot with soapy water.
5. Still nothing? Re-check the valve, and repeat the soapy pass on a calm day — wind makes bubbles hard to read. A leak slow enough to survive two careful passes is, in my view, slow enough to manage with an occasional top-up (done the manual’s way, as above) while you keep an eye on it.

How do I patch an inflatable hot tub?

Once you’ve found and marked the spot, patching is the easy part — but do it your manual’s way, not a random video’s way. Many tubs ship with a repair kit; the SaluSpa AirJet manual, for instance, covers an underwater adhesive patch for the PVC parts and a PVC patch for Tritech material (the glue for that one isn’t included). Your kit and your manual are matched to your tub’s actual material, which is exactly what you want.

How the SaluSpa manual does it (check your own kit if yours differs):

• Clean the area first. The underwater PVC patch only asks for a clean spot; the Tritech patch needs the area clean and dry, then glue on the patch and firm pressure for two minutes.
• Follow the kit’s instructions for your surface — the liner material and the process are model-specific, so this is a “check your model’s manual” step, not a place for improvised numbers.
• Wait before re-inflating: 30 seconds for the PVC patch, 30 minutes for the Tritech one, per the SaluSpa manual. Other kits will state their own times.
• Re-test with soapy water after re-inflating. Bubbles gone = job done.

One winter note: if the leak search or the patch job means deflating the tub in cold weather, know that the manual warns against unfolding and setting up the spa below 59°F (15°C) — cold makes the material stiff and easier to damage. If it’s freezing out and the tub needs to come down anyway, it may be the moment to pack it away properly for the season and do the repair somewhere warm.

When is the air chamber beyond saving?

Honest answer: a single puncture in flat material is exactly what the repair patches are for. But some situations tilt from “patch it” to “start doing the math”:

• A failed seam or weld rather than a hole in flat material. Patches are designed for the flat stuff; a split along a seam takes the stress of the whole inflated structure and tends to keep creeping.
• Leaks that return next to old patches, or a growing collection of patches in the same area — a sign the surrounding material is tired, not just unlucky.
• A wall that won’t hold firmness even after a patch tests clean with soapy water.

If you’re there, weigh the repair against the tub’s age and what a replacement costs — and check your warranty paperwork before spending anything, because a seam failure on a young tub is a conversation to have with the manufacturer, not with a patch kit.

FAQ

Is it normal to add air to an inflatable hot tub regularly? Yes, within reason: Bestway’s manual says the spa will need air added from time to time, because day-to-night temperature changes shift the pressure. Many owners simply plan for it in seasons with warm days and cold nights. Needing air every single day in stable weather is different — that’s when the leak hunt above is worth running.

Can a leak fix itself? Don’t count on it — but a “leak” that vanishes when the weather warms up may never have been a leak. That’s the temperature effect, and it’s why step one of the method is a same-time-of-day comparison.

Will losing air damage the pump or heater? Air pressure and water circulation are separate systems, and none of the codes in the SaluSpa manual’s error table is about air pressure. But my reasoning is that a very deflated tub full of water strains the material, so top it up (the manual’s way) rather than letting it sag for days.

Found your leak somewhere I didn’t list, or got a patch to hold in a spot the kit wasn’t meant for? Tell me what worked — real owner reports are exactly what I want these guides to reflect.

Jake Weber — Jake Weber is the pen name of Rookie Spa’s editor. I don’t sell spas or chemicals, and I’m not affiliated with any brand. Every guide here starts from the manufacturer’s manual, is cross-checked against the questions and fixes owners report most often, and is written in plain English for first-time owners — with a clear warning whenever something involves electricity or water safety.