Grease guns

[Mirlen]

OK, today I decided to wash the car, then brought it in the garage and thought I'd hit the grease fittings on the drive shaft... Got one done, went to next, no pressure...hm, out of grease? OK, refill time!

Well...45 minutes later and several sessions of irate cursing I could not get the dang grease gun back together. The thing is the absolute worst engineered piece of garbage I have ever encountered in my entire LIFE. I should have known it'd be a pain when it took about 20 minutes to load the first tube...well, loading the second is even tougher since your hands end up covered with grease and you get no grip on the thing to compress the spring down AND twist the cap on while retaining the tension on the spring...

ANYHOW...this is a long winded way of asking.... What's a good grease gun to get?

This piece-o-crap is one from Home Depot...the silver metal one.

 

[greasefingers]

I have this one. I do not know where I got it from however. But buying the flexible hose is great to have.

 

[nated05]

OK, today I decided to wash the car, then brought it in the garage and thought I'd hit the grease fittings on the drive shaft... Got one done, went to next, no pressure...hm, out of grease? OK, refill time!

Well...45 minutes later and several sessions of irate cursing I could not get the dang grease gun back together. The thing is the absolute worst engineered piece of garbage I have ever encountered in my entire LIFE. I should have known it'd be a pain when it took about 20 minutes to load the first tube...well, loading the second is even tougher since your hands end up covered with grease and you get no grip on the thing to compress the spring down AND twist the cap on while retaining the tension on the spring...

ANYHOW...this is a long winded way of asking.... What's a good grease gun to get?

This piece-o-crap is one from Home Depot...the silver metal one.

I think I have the same one, and the same thing happened to me last sat. New tube of grease, put it in the gun and pumped the handle for 5 min. Nothing came out. I finally gave up and havent made it back to the store for a different one.

 

[TechWrench]

Re: Re: Grease guns

I think I have the same one, and the same thing happened to me last sat. New tube of grease, put it in the gun and pumped the handle for 5 min. Nothing came out. I finally gave up and havent made it back to the store for a different one.

I might just be that the pump is air-bound. This tends to happen when changing tubes. There should be a bleed screw on top of the gun. Back it out and let the excess air out, then tighten it. Pump should now work, if it was an air problem.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

If your grease gun does not have a bleeder then you have to loosen the top part and let the air bleed out. Do not loosen it so far the top comes off. Try pumping it with the top loose and see if it works. If not try tightening it and try it. Growing up on a farm and greasing a lot of equipment you learn the tricks quick.

 

[nated05]

Re: Re: Re: Grease guns

I might just be that the pump is air-bound. This tends to happen when changing tubes. There should be a bleed screw on top of the gun. Back it out and let the excess air out, then tighten it. Pump should now work, if it was an air problem.

Ok..I remember seeing that screw I think it was a hex head. I will try that when I get a chance, thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Mirlen]

Mine has a bleeder but that isn't my problem. My problem is the design of the gun and how you get the dang thing back together is a royal pain in the arse. There has to be a better designed gun that doesn't make you feel like you're putting a spring on a strug with your bare hands...or am I just really getting weak and lazy in my old age?

 

[TechWrench]

Mine has a bleeder but that isn't my problem. My problem is the design of the gun and how you get the dang thing back together is a royal pain in the arse. There has to be a better designed gun that doesn't make you feel like you're putting a spring on a strug with your bare hands...or am I just really getting weak and lazy in my old age?

Not sure what type of gun you are using, but the ones I have all have a plunger at the end of the cartridge tube. If so, you should be able to pull the handle of the plunger out which compresses the spring, and it should be able to be locked in the out position to allow the new grease cartridge to be inserted in place of the old one. Once the new one is in place, and you puncture the foil cover, you should be able to screw the tube back on to the body of the gun without any spring resistance. Once the tube is secure, then release the plunger from its hold position, and the spring should now release to push the plunger up into the bottom of the new cartridge so the gun gets pressure feed to the pump handle.

 

[Mirlen]

The problem I run into is that in order to screw the end on, there is still some pressure placed on the spring which can cause the 'lock' to release and then the whole thing flies apart. Maybe I'm getting some pressure built up inside and the plunger isn't going in enough while screwing the cap on...hmm...well, guess I'll get the thing out again and go for round two this weekend!