Waterbed Mattress Filling
Lay out your water mattress inside your safety liner with the valve at the foot. If this is a pre-filled water mattress avoid the shifting of the baffling system by holding both the outer vinyl and the baffling system as you unfold it. Remove wrinkles at the bottom and center your water mattress in your frame. NOTE that centering your mattress is very important to the way it sleeps and it's usable life. Align the corner of the water mattress with your frame corners. If your safety liner or heating pad has shifted reposition them now. Now you're ready to fill.
From your bathroom sink faucet, remove the aerator by unscrewing it (if your bathroom faucet doesn't have an aerator, you will have to fill from your kitchen sink or an outside faucet.) Attach the faucet connector that you purchased with your waterbed and then your hose to it. Make a tight fit to avoid leakage (place a towel around the faucet to avoid any spray that could occur). To help eliminate unclean water, flush the hose by running your water for 10 minutes before filling your bed. Attach the mattress adapter to your hose. Insert it into the "popped-up" valve and screw down securely.
Wrap a towel around the valve to soak up any unavoidable spillage. Fill the water mattress approximately 1/2" below the level of the side rails (you may want to burp your mattress when the mattress is about half filled to get a accurate fill level.) Burp the mattress after finishing the fill process by moving the air bubbles from top down to the the open valve with a broom handle. Shake the mattress and if any sloshing noise is heard repeat the burping process. Add your conditioner and cap off your valve returning it to it's down position.
Water naturally gives off oxygen so at the present of sloshing in your mattress you may want to burp it it that time. Local water condition and the periodic use of conditioner greatly effects the oxidation. Now you may dress your bed with mattress pad and sheets. A mattress pad is important to the quality of sleep you get as it allow your skin to breath.
Waterbed Mattress Draining
1) Burp as much air as possible out of the mattress. Unplug your heater. Start by attaching your hose to the mattress with the fitting that screws onto the valve of the mattress. Push the valve of the mattress along with the hose that is attached to it back down into the down position. Place a 10 to 15 pound object on top of the valve of the mattress.
2) A gravity drain will only work if you are draining to a place lower than the level of the bed. Water doesn't flow up. Run your hose to a tub/shower stall, toilet or down stairs and out the front door.
3) At the end of the hose take a couple of quick sucks to get the water flowing. You don't need to take in a mouth full of water to get the water flow started.
4) A gravity drain should take anywhere from an hour to two hours depending on the size of your bed and how far your hose is dropping. If you have a wave reduced mattress this is where you'll need some help from a Shop Vac or Wet/Dry Vac. The water is retained in the insert that makes the mattress wave reduced. By simply using the vacuum you will extract the balance of the water out of the mattress. After you extract the last container full of water, you'll cap off the mattress as quickly as possible so as to not allow any air back into the mattress. Folding Continued
5) You should end up with a mattress that weighs between 20-50 pounds and is also vacuum packed into the smallest package possible. This also keeps the insert inside from shifting once you pick up the mattress. Then simply fold the mattress into thirds from head to toe and then once in half (width ways).
A "Venturi Pump" uses the pressure from your faucet to draw the water out of your bed. Most Venturi pumps have a "Bell" type bottom which turns clockwise to have water flow into your mattress when the water pressure is on or, counter clockwise clockwise which opens the bottom of the venturi pump. The water rushing down through the small neck of the pump creates a suction thus drawing water out of your bed. The water pressure must remain on for the pump to work. We suggest a gravity drain with a Wet Dry Vac when conditions merit. It is a lot more effective and conserves water.
