Grease Gun Help!

[bnixon]

I have had this grease gun for years and have never figured out a good way to fill it with new grease.

It is the typical gun with the pump handle and the screw off grease canister with the pull plunger at the end.

I know there has to be a better way of filling these.

I have tried several different ways and the only success I have had is to grab a handfull of grease and push it in by hand. You can never get it full this way because of air pockets and it is a REAL MESS!!!!

How do you guys fill you grease guns?

Thanks,

 

[Clemson]

I use a cartridge type gun. Pull the plunger back and lock it; Insert the cartridge and take off the pop top type lid; screw the top back on and release the plunger. Push the plunger back to the forward position and lock it. That is all there is to it.

 

[RobS]

Brandon, I've got both a manual and an air operated grease gun and they both load the same. The cartridge you buy goes in whole. If I remember correctly, I remove the bottom cap from the gun and pull the pop-top off the cartridge. It then slides in stopping on the rim of the cartridge. Cock the plunger back and screw the cap back on the gun. Final step is to push the plunger rod up into the grease, although the actual plunger stays behind.

As usual, a lot harder to describe than to do /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[MikePA]

<font color=blue>How do you guys fill you grease guns?</font color=blue>

I use a standard 14 ounce cartridge in my cordless grease gun. {see attached} Little muss, no fuss. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[bnixon]

I have tried to use one of these before and it didn't fit in the canister. Was just a little too big. Do they make different sizes?

 

[MikePA]

I've only ever seen 14 oz cartridges, 16 oz tubes and 'mini-cartridges (3 oz?)'. When you say 'too big' was it too long, too wide or both?

 

[dgood1]

They must if you can't put a cartridge in yours.

The last 3 grease guns that I have bought over the last 20 years all use the cartridge. The last one was just last month (air opperated). I didn't notice any that were of a small diameter except for the specialty ones.

Don

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

I use the cartridges in all of mine. Just bought a new air gun this spring at TSC. I kind of like the new "pinch" catch on the pull rod instead of the pull back and lock. I remember when I used to stick the end of the gun in a barrel and draw back sucking the grease into the tube. One day I did this and as I was screwing the top on I bumped the rod and it released and I found out what "grease gun" really meant. What a mess. The tubes are great. Unless, that is, you have some old gun that is really made well but the plunger is too big for the tube. They can be a pain........ Tom

 

[Worksmart]

When you take the end off...clean it up a little and make sure there isn't a cartridge already in there. I had the same problem a couple years ago. Hadn't used the gun in awhile and had to refill it. Couldn't get the new cartridge in. Thought maybe a new size was being used and the old gun was going to have to be replaced. After awhile and a visit to the auto parts store, I finally realized there was a cartridge already in there/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif. With all the grease around the end, the cardboard had absorbed it therefore it was difficult to discern a cartridge was in the gun. C

 

[bnixon]

Thanks guys!

I will look and see if a old cartridge is still in there. I am going by TSC today to pick up some stuff and I will grab a new tube of grease and give it another try. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[mikim]

wait til tomorrow a.m. - sounds like a job for "MESS MAN" aka my wife's husband /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif
mike

 

[Ozarker]

If you want to use it without the canisters, buy grease in the 5 gal pail. Then, with the plunger of the gun still all the way forward, stick the open end of the gun tube into the grease. Pull the plunger back while pushing the gun tube down into the grease. Lock the plunger back when it's all the way down in pail of grease and then pull the gun tube back out of the grease pail. Wipe off the excess grease. Screw the top back on then release the plunger.

 

[bnixon]

Well....I feel like a complete idiot now!

I took it apart and wiped it out and there it was. The original cartridge that came in it 6 years ago!

I have been putting the grease in by hand for 6 years!!!!!!

Well...pulled out the old one and the new one slid right in. Didn't even get my hands dirty! I can't say that about my old method!!!!!!

Well I guess it takes things like this in life to keep you humble!

Thanks for the help. If it wasn't for the great advise her on TBN I would still be filling my gun by hand!

 

[dgood1]

Welcome to the HUMBLE club!

Being kept humble is a normal course of events for me. Every time I get too full of myself something comes along and shows me just how much I can be brought down.

Don

 

[bphillips]

A friend of mine had that happen to her when putting in a new cartridge - IN HER LIVING ROOM !!!! The sight of that great big glob lofting through the air - A thing of beauty - until it landed.
I laughed so hard I thought I was gonna die - or maybe she was gonna kill me ....

Brad in NH

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I wonder if that's how the Lava Lamp got invented.

 

[Worksmart]

bnixon - Glad I could help. I pretty much felt like a dork when I found a cartridge in my gun.

That's what's so nice about this board. You're usually not the first person to run into a problem. C

 

[AltaLawnCare]

I was just in my local NAPA, and after reading this post earlier...was looking at their guns.

They have a air powered one on sale for $29.99, regularly $51.00.

 

[Ozarker]

I have an air powered grease gun and love it.

 

[buck1]

Bnixon,

Look at Clemson's reply because I do the same thing with ONE ADDITION. My grease gun has a primer on it and I didn't know it when I first bought it. I don't have the gun in front of me but after pondering what this "primer" was the first time I loaded the gun and didn't get grease, I played it for a while and then it hit me what it was. Check and make sure yours has a primer which feeds grease into the line. I think I had to turn it, pump the handle a few times, then close it. It's been a long time ago but I guess the point is, look and see if there's a way to prime it.