grease gun problem

[meb9796]

I went to grease up my tractor today and the grease gun wouldn't work. It's one of the small manual pump ones you find in most of your JD stores. I inserted a new grease cartridge and still nothing. I pump the handle and nothing comes out. It has a bleeder valve that has always been out 1 complete turn since I got it last year (put 4 cartridges through it at least). I took the thing apart, removed the flexible hose (that I replaced the rigid connector with right after I bought it) and it still won't work.

What am I doing wrong??? Should the bleed valve be open or closed? Is there a special step I need to do when I first insert the cartridge?

thanks!!

 

[Rockin' G Ranch]

Probably "air locked". I had the same problem with a pistol type grease gun and solved it by loosening the top end cap, pumping a few times and then re-tightening. Took me a while to fiqure it out but now it works every time.

 

[meb9796]

I tried that, but only got 2-3 shots of grease before back to nothing. Do you leave your bleeder valve open or closed?

thanks

 

[whistlepig]

I went to grease up my tractor today and the grease gun wouldn't work. It's one of the small manual pump ones you find in most of your JD stores. I inserted a new grease cartridge and still nothing. I pump the handle and nothing comes out. It has a bleeder valve that has always been out 1 complete turn since I got it last year (put 4 cartridges through it at least). I took the thing apart, removed the flexible hose (that I replaced the rigid connector with right after I bought it) and it still won't work.

What am I doing wrong??? Should the bleed valve be open or closed? Is there a special step I need to do when I first insert the cartridge?

thanks!!

Manual pumps are the worst. Pnuematic guns are a bit better. I have Lincoln Powerluber. Best thing I have ever used. Greasing is a bad job. A bad grease gun will make for a bad day. If you are going to stay with a manual grease gun go Alemite. Most of the better guns these days won't bleed out. The Powerluber is best for me. It doesn't bleed out. I can hear it pump grease or not. It's the best thing going.

 

[WH401]

I had the same problem w/ a cheapo gun from Advance Auto, it would always get air locked and I had to unscrew the canister half way to get it to work, which got old fast. I replaced it earlier this year with a Lincoln 1134 Pistol Grip grease gun. It doesn't have this problem and works much better than that other piece of junk did.

If your interested in just replacing it, Amazon has the 1134's for $34 w/ free shipping. Amazon.com: Lincoln Industrial 1134 16 Ounce Pistol Grease Gun with 18" Whip Hose and 6" Rigid Pipe: Automotive

 

[big bubba]

yup, they're right, air is the culprit esp when you change out a new cartridge. Maybe best to get one of their recommendations.....I do it the hillbilly way when I insert a new one in, though a bit messy. After I insert the new one, I top it off with additional grease (from a can) to eliminate the air pockets then screw the gun top on....works just fine from there. For now, I'll do it the primitive way, maybe till the economy gets better. good greasing, bb

 

[meb9796]

hmmm. I posted a response last night, but it disappeared??? anyway....so I went to Lowes and got another hand held grease gun and a troy-bilt pneumatic grease gun. The pneumatic didn't work at all, in fact now when I pull the trigger it does nothing at all. The hand held did not work either until I took it apart 2-3 times and it finally started working. Good news is that my FEL and chipper is all greased up so I can continue working. Bad news is that I now have 3 grease guns and none of them work 100% of the time. I'm assuming that I'm priming them incorrectly and they are cheap pieces of crap...

so I can either go upstairs and try to prime them correctly, but it's late, so I'm probably better off just buying one from amazon.com...
dang that 'buy now' button get's me in trouble all the time....

my lincoln cordless grease gun will be here early next week. I'll enjoy holding it while I sleep in the dog house for a week

 

[Gary Fowler]

Most any gun you buy wont pump if it get air in the pump piston. As one contributor mentioned, best way to avoid that is to start with a completely full cartridge. I have found that when changing cartridges, I just start by inserting the cartridge, put the top back on with just a couple of threads then release the spring handle, pump a few times, screw the head another round, pump a few times till grease is coming out with each pump, then completely tighten the top. If it air locks again, loosen off the top and repeat the pump and turn the head cycle till the air is removed, then tighten again. Normally this takes only about 1 cycle because the spring pressure on the gun pushes the air pockets out pretty well. By twisting the top it helps consolidate the grease well and force the air bubble out.
Hope this works for you.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Real easy here. I go through at least 5 tubes of grease a week and never have a problem. When you change the cartridge, screw the top on so that only a couple of threads catch. Now, pump the handle as you screw the top the rest of the way on. By the time the threads are tight, it is primed. If you lose the prime, pull the handle out the bottom. Turn it and push in until it catches the plunger. Now gently push up until you pump grease. All done.

I go through a LOT of grease. I have had the pneumatic and electric ones. Short of the high dollar Lincoln's that go on top of a barrel, I don't like any of them. Give me the lincoln pro pistol grip any day. Also really helps with your hand strength.

 

[dodge man]

Thanks for the answers, I'm like alot of others, by the time I get a new tube and get the thing working, I'm about ready to throw the thing across the room.

 

[zman007007]

I always put in the new tube even with cheap guns, tighten the top and then just pump the handle you retract and pump it in a few times and its ready to go. The handle should get all air pockets out. zman

 

[Stimw]

I finally bought a Lincoln barrel/air gun that takes a 5 gal bucket off ebay but have had my share of hand gun problems. I found like stated, start threads, release spring, then tighten threads. But I also found that if I take the hose off, put my finger over the hole and pump my finger acts like a check valve and purges the air. You can hear it fart and then you get all grease. Put hose back on and go.

 

[whistlepig]

I know all about bleeding out air pockets. This is more of a problem on the manual guns. In fact it is the major problem with manual guns. I have never had an air pocket problem with the several pnuematic guns I have owned. Pnuematic is much better than manual. A Lincoln Powerluber is much better than pnuematic. With a pnuematic I never knew when it was out of grease. With the Powerluber I can hear it run out of grease. I know exactly how many shots went (or didn't) to the bearing with the Powerluber. It's a very good gun. Pricey, but it does what it says on the label.

 

[SPYDERLK]

yup, they're right, air is the culprit esp when you change out a new cartridge. Maybe best to get one of their recommendations.....I do it the hillbilly way when I insert a new one in, though a bit messy. After I insert the new one, I top it off with additional grease (from a can) to eliminate the air pockets then screw the gun top on....works just fine from there. For now, I'll do it the primitive way, maybe till the economy gets better. good greasing, bb

A guy who understands piston pumps that are trying to pull in stuff that wont flow on its own.
larry

 

[jmfox]

I have never had an air pocket problem with the several pnuematic guns I have owned. Pnuematic is much better than manual.

I've had a couple of cheap pneumatic guns and both were problematic. It wasn't until I bought a cheap battery operated gun that the issue went away. I also found that some greases are harder to keep and maintain flow.

jmf

 

[spruce Deere]

Lincoln is the only grease gun worth owning Dont bother with anything elts. I have done what wayne county hose does for years, average ten tubes a week. No problems with loading, priming. Lincoln Grease guns last for years for me with very little maintenance, if they dont get run over or stolen. Sure, tips wear out, hoses blow, plunger handles un-thread and vanish or plunger rod gets bent, operator error.... Little maintenance, but guns still puts out the grease.

 

[whistlepig]

Lincoln is the only grease gun worth owning Dont bother with anything elts. I have done what wayne county hose does for years, average ten tubes a week. No problems with loading, priming. Lincoln Grease guns last for years for me with very little maintenance, if they dont get run over or stolen. Sure, tips wear out, hoses blow, plunger handles un-thread and vanish or plunger rod gets bent, operator error.... Little maintenance, but guns still puts out the grease.

Lincoln Powerluber is plug and play. No bleeding, no maintenance. After using the manual and pnuematic guns for many years and wishing for something better the Powerluber is what I wished for. Greasing still sucks but not even near as bad with the Powerluber.

 

[spruce Deere]

OH, I for got that part after a 8-10 hour day..... greasing sucks thanks whistlepig