Using a Grease Gun

mrcaptainbob · Mar 25, 2005

Never, EVER!! read a manual! Geezzz!!!!!!! ( /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif) Do one pump onto a scrap board and see how much you get. Should be able to 'gestimate' from there. But I agree with all the other posters, pump 'till you see it oozing if it's not a sealed or booted bearing. If booted, only 'till you see the boot start to move. If sealed...well, then you don't need to grease it anyway. (According to the manu...uh...from what I heard!)

PineRidge · Mar 26, 2005

I have both the pneumatic and manual grease guns.

However I don't like the fact that you don't get any input from the pneumatic gun.

When using a manual gun you can feel the resistance of the grease moving through the gun as you squeeze the trigger.

With a pneumatic gun you can only hear the gun work. If you hit an air pocket in the grease tube then you have no idea that the gun quit working. The gun doesn't change sounds that it makes or give you any other indication that it quit pumping. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I have found times when trying to fill mower spindles with a pneumatic gun that I thought took forever to fill only to realize the the blasted gun quit pumping because of a pocket in the grease. With a manual gun that is never an issue since you feel when the gun quits pumping immediately.

I would vote for a pneumatic over a manual gun if there was better communication between the gun and my hand.

KiotiJohn · Mar 26, 2005

( However I don't like the fact that you don't get any input from the pneumatic gun.)
I have to disagree with you Mike, I can tell instantly from the sound my gun makes that it's not pumping. I don't know how to describe it, but it's rather like an incomplete cuh swoosh sound with only the cuh. Normally, it's a kind of two part sound and when I'm empty, or have an air pocket, I only get the first sound. It took me a while to realize that it was happening, but now I hear it right away and put in a new tube or evacuate the air. John

spanky8N · Mar 26, 2005

I bought a pneumatic gun after the first time I had to manualy grease the 20 something fittings on my disc. I quickly learned the differences in sound when grease was not pumping. Like the others I grease my fittings until I see some come out.
Dan

Harrygoodwrench · Mar 26, 2005

The main thing to observe when greasing is to wipe the grease(zerk) fitting off and keep your grease nozzle out of the dirt. As far as I'm concerned putting your grease gun on a dirty nipple only pumps debris into the appatatus being greased and thats almost as bad as no lube at all.
I've seen guys drop the grease gun on the floor in "speedy dry" and pick it up and grease a king pin, etc. Thats not the way to properly to do a grease job.
You want good clean lube in the joint. The quanity of lube has already been discussed. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Bird · Mar 26, 2005

Amen, Harry. I never could understand anyone putting a grease gun on a fitting without wiping the dirt off first.

PineRidge · Mar 26, 2005

I really never noticed any difference in the sound but then again it may be the quality of the gun. I bought the pneumatic model from Harbor Freight. Something else that I noticed that a quick pull-release-pull of the trigger doesn't pump grease at all. It takes a short hesitation between trigger pulls to dispense grease.

KiotiJohn · Mar 27, 2005

( I bought the pneumatic model from Harbor Freight. Something else that I noticed that a quick pull-release-pull of the trigger doesn't pump grease at all. It takes a short hesitation between trigger pulls to dispense grease. )
I bought mine from Harbor Freight as well. I think for $12.99 and it's a doozy! If you pay attention, you'll hear the difference when you hit a pocket or have no more grease. It's rather like the sound you get when you quick-pull the trigger and get no grease. Just a little suttle difference. John

Oldtimermich · Mar 27, 2005

Well....the three to four pump rule has worked rather well and never seemed to do any damage to seals or such. Also you can try this. Always pump slowly, and if or when, you hear crackling noises from the area being greased, I would stop at that point. But then again, this is only my opinion.

jgh · Nov 28, 2005

20051128

Andy, I am thinking of buying a Lincoln. What has been your experience since that post? What model did you buy?

See the latest Powerluber, being shipped this week per the very responsive folks at Lincoln Industrial:

Lincoln Model 1442/1444 Cordless Grease gun

It's got more juice (14.4 vs 12 v), 2 pressures (one high enough to bust stubborn zerks, they say), and improved charging, etc. Not connected to LI nor do I have any hands on experience so far.

I have not had good luck with my Sears pneumatics. The first one I had seemed to bleed endlessly after I pulled it off the zerks. In addition to that problem the replacement seems to just stop putting out grease w/o warning and is murder to pull off the fittings. With the comments here in mind (sounds, etc) I may need to re-evaluate about the no-grease hassles.

Anyone have other Lincoln or related experiences? The Case IH dealer I have done busns with loves them, says all the mechanics have bought them. They sell the 1244 (2 batteries) for $225, Arizona tools gets $199 plus shipping, I suppose.

Best I have heard on the new 1444 is $280 from a local wholesale supply house, though they have not made plans to stock it or any other Lincoln products.

Add one more for confusion totality (Alemite brand, on MSC's site, no other info yet):

MSC/Alemite grease gun

Note also the Prolube bucket gun setup, seems cheap compared to the cordless guns, but requires air or hand pumping, not sure.

Thanks as always!

Jim