Grease gun air lock?

[cmyoung2]

I have problems with grease guns losing prime, air lock, don't know the right term. They quit pumping grease even though there is plenty of grease left in the tube. one gun is a John Deere, another is an air gun from AgriSupply, but I have the problem with other guns also. Trying to purge excess air with the release does not seem to do anything, I generally end up taking the head off and forcing grease into the pickup hole, messy in the least. Guns are stored hanging upright. Has to be a better way.

 

[LouNY]

Are you using tubes of grease or bulk fills;
as I recall the sealing washer on the piston goes in different directions.
I'm thinking on the bulk fills the open end of the cup faces up into the tube and
for the tubes it faces down in the barrel.
Also is the follower spring pushing up the piston cup.
I have had to loosen the head a couple of threads sometimes especially in cold weather to get an air pocket out,
pumping the gun with the head just barely loose, it you go to far it makes a heck of a mess.

 

[fried1765]

Are you using tubes of grease or bulk fills;
as I recall the sealing washer on the piston goes in different directions.
I'm thinking on the bulk fills the open end of the cup faces up into the tube and
for the tubes it faces down in the barrel.
Also is the follower spring pushing up the piston cup.
I have had to loosen the head a couple of threads sometimes especially in cold weather to get an air pocket out,
pumping the gun with the head just barely loose, it you go to far it makes a heck of a mess.

I have such issues with my manual grease guns, but very few issues with my DeWalt gun.

 

[Cat385B]

Store the gun upside down. Even though there is a plunger on a spring in there, you are allowing gravity to pull grease away from the exit. Make sure you store spare tubes with plastic cover up, metal pop top down, for the same reason.

On the DeWalt, have you had to clean out the screen above the cartridge yet because it has trapped enough gunk that grease will not go through it?

 

[oosik]

I have occasionally had problems where the spring would not force the grease up the tube - air lock???? I open the gun - remove/reinstall the tube - screw the head back on. This has alway seemed to solve this situation. My manual guns.

I've never had this problem with my DeWalt battery grease gun.

 

[mikester]

I have problems with grease guns losing prime, air lock, don't know the right term. They quit pumping grease even though there is plenty of grease left in the tube. one gun is a John Deere, another is an air gun from AgriSupply, but I have the problem with other guns also. Trying to purge excess air with the release does not seem to do anything, I generally end up taking the head off and forcing grease into the pickup hole, messy in the least. Guns are stored hanging upright. Has to be a better way.

IMHO all manual grease guns suck.

I ended up buying a pneumatic pump that mounts on a pail of grease. Problems solved, less mess too. Now I need to figure out how to magically make the grease blobs on the barn floor disappear.

 

[dodge man]

I have such issues with my manual grease guns, but very few issues with my DeWalt gun.

Same here, that’s why I bought a battery powered DeWalt.

 

[cmyoung2]

I use tubes, not bulk. Loosening the threads doesn't seem to help much. Springs seem to work. It is an all the time problem, not just cold weather, maybe even worse in the summer, but maybe because I use it more in the summer. Thought about the upside down storage, but I'll have to change everything about the storage.

 

[Rock Crawler]

I hate my manual grease guns. They all suck, all different brands and I spend at least half of the time with them trying to get them to work. They are just horrible.

 

[Ford850]

I have a John Deere pistol grip gun that's had this same problem. I removed the bleed valve last year and found it was plugged with grease, and cleaning it helped quite a bit. But who builds a grease gun with a purge valve that is susceptible to grease? I also have an old lever gun that rarely has this issue, but I due store it hanging upside down so maybe that is the answer.

 

[Peter 315]

I also have a pistol grip gun when I put a new tube in I leave it a couple of threads loose and start greasing then tighten it up ...

 

[oosik]

And all this time we are fighting the grease gun. Guess what's getting GREASED .............

 

[John0829]

I have a 50 year old Lincoln pistol grip that my wife bought me not long after we married and have rarely had the air lock issue. I put the grease cartridge in, screw on the end, open the bleeder, slam home the plunger rod then close the bleeder and pump grease until the tube runs out, to quickly I might add. On the rare occasions it does get an "air lock" I can open the bleeder, bump the plunger rod and all is fine again. I thinki the "air lock" is from tubes that have an air bubble in the middle of the contents, it is the only way to explain how air gets in after a new tube has been installed and used for awhile.

 

[Todd727]

Never had this problem over the years. My guns have always been stored horizontally.

 

[Oldpath05]

I had this air lock problem in my batt 20v Dewalt when replacing tube. I watched a video about placing new tube in gun, 1 open vent, 2 pull plunger and take MT tube out, 3 put new tube in and let plunger go in with vent screw still open, 4 pull plunger back out and turn 1/4 then push back in til grease comes out of vent, 5 pull plunger back out then let back in and close vent, 6 if that dont work run over with tractor..........

 

[Industrial Toys]

Had my share of trouble too. Lately trouble with grease somehow getting to other side of piston. So when you pull out charging handle to change tube, you have to force a pile of grease out back of gun.

But, I have not had air lock issues lately and this might suggest that my latest bunch of grease flows easeir creating my current issues. I always seem to end up with jars of wasted grease, that should have gone into some zerk! And having to change the tube that much sooner.

 

[mini14]

it gets air locked because the rubber plunger head gets stuck in the tube. have had it happen to all my guns even the dewalt cordless gun, they sent me a new plunger. If the grease sits in there too long it seperates and hardens.

 

[Oldpath05]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I suppose thats possible but either way the below comment works for me......

I had this air lock problem in my batt 20v Dewalt when replacing tube. I watched a video about placing new tube in gun, 1 open vent, 2 pull plunger and take MT tube out, 3 put new tube in and let plunger go in with vent screw still open, 4 pull plunger back out and turn 1/4 then push back in til grease comes out of vent, 5 pull plunger back out then let back in and close vent, 6 if that dont work run over with tractor..........

 

[PILOON]

I may be wrong but I seem to recall that many, if not all, have a button or valve to release or bleed the air pockets.
My battery powered one has that feature. (must check my 2 manual guns)

 

[Oldpath05]

My Dewalt 20v has a vent on top, that was step 1.