>>> HARBOR FREIGHT GREASE GUN <<<

BearKiller · Jul 4, 2010

I thought there were a couple threads around here to discuss H-F stuff, what is good and what sometimes is not.

I did a few searches and could not find those threads.

I keep two grease-guns, always loaded with Kendall Super-Blu L-427; one is a pistol-grip with a longish flexible hose for accessing Alemites that the rigid tube cannot; the other is a rigid tube lever-action for those easy to get straight in on Alemites.

Over the years, I have pieced and parted these old guns, using parts from two or three to make one servicable gun.

My last lever-action gun finally gave up the ghost and I had exhausted all my parts-swappers.

So, I bought #1703 from Harbor Freight.

Lever Action Grease Gun

I really like the little tab that locks the plunger-rod at all positions, making it much easier to retract the plunger.

ALAS, when I loaded a brand-new tube of Super-Blu, I could get no grease to pump; no amount of bleeding or reloading made any difference.

Harbor Freight being over 125 miles away and me needing the gun, I gave it a physical examination to ascertain the problem.

I inserted an empty grease tube into the barrel and discovered that the plunger would NOT enter the tube.

Further examination revealed that the rubber plunger seal was made with a rather fat protuding ridge around it's perimeter.

I could press the rubber gizmo into the end of the tube and the ridge would stop all forward progress.

SO, I took a pair of scissors and trimmed off this offending appendage, being careful to make a true cut.

I tested it with the empty tube in the gun and all worked as it should.

I reloaded the full tube, bled off the air, and now it will squirt grease across the shop.

So far, so good.

Before I dis-mantled and trimmed the seal, I tried to just swap the barrel/plunger assembly from one of my other guns.

I have always found these to interchange from one gun to another, regardless of brand.

Not so with the H-F unit, the barrel is just a hair slimmer and the female threads in the "head" will not screw onto the normal barrel.

I am certain that EVERY LAST ONE of these guns are going to be made wrong as the one I got was, so BEWARE that a little alteration is going to be imperative, before successful use of the gun.

BHD · Jul 5, 2010

on some grease guns that are designed for the grease tubes or to be bulk loaded, one has to flip the rubber seal back over the follower base for the tube, and forward for the bulk grease. I do not know if that was the situation here, if it is set up for the tube grease and you try to bulk fill it it will leak past the seal, but for bulk you can not get in the tube, Lincoln grease guns has this feature, Lincoln Manual Grease Guns

FredH · Jul 5, 2010

Had a Harbor Freight air grease gun for years and it work perfectly with ALMOST every tube and type of grease that I put in it . The only one's that gave me fits were tubes of a black grease ( from Chevron ) that would not pump at all , but alas those would not pump in a pistol grip that I also had from a different maker . Those would only work in a lever action type gun .

Unfortunately my air gun gave up the ghost a few months back when I failed to release the tension on the plunger while it sat for several months and it basically flattened out the plunger /seal to the point that trimming it just a little allowed it to bypass and leak out the bottom .

Ironically , I had pulled back the tension on my other 2 guns during that down time , just not the air gun , and those still work fine . Replaced the Harbor Freight air gun with a Lincoln continuous feed because I got a super good deal on it for Double the price that I could buy the same model Harbor Freight gun that I had before at a Yard sale . Darn Thing was Brand new , still in the box and had never had a tube put in it . People were selling all of their Fathers stuff since he had passed away .

Fred H.

BearKiller · Jul 5, 2010

BHD said:
on some grease guns that are designed for the grease tubes or to be bulk loaded, one has to flip the rubber seal back over the follower base for the tube, and forward for the bulk grease. I do not know if that was the situation here, if it is set up for the tube grease and you try to bulk fill it it will leak past the seal, but for bulk you can not get in the tube, Lincoln grease guns has this feature, Lincoln Manual Grease Guns

I would feel very stupid if that turns out to be the case. :laughing:

Really, though, I had that entire plunger-seal out in my hands and NO WAY, that I tried, was it going to enter the tube.

Now, you have me curious as to the facts of the situation, so I am going to dig up the instruction pamphlet and see what it says. :laughing:

Travelover · Jul 5, 2010

The on line manual doesn't give any clue as to how to switch between bulk and cartridge as far as the plunger head goes.

I guess, like most HF stuff, the final engineering is up to you. :laughing:

BearKiller · Jul 5, 2010

Well, I just read the entire six-page manual and I now know more about grease-guns than I ever did before.

Alas, no mention whatsoever was made about any flipping over of the plunger-seal.

I did learn that the real reason for that little 1/8-NPT bung, that I always thought was a bleeder port, is there to connect one of those big air-operated service-station grease-guns and fill the hand-held gun via the big shop gun.

All the many years that we operated a HomeTown Oil service-station, we had one of those big air-operated guns that clamped onto the top of a 35-gallon (or so) drum ---- PA-CHHHH --- PA-CHHHH --- PA-CHHHH; but, I never knew, nor thought of, refilling the little guns from the big; I guess I was kinda not too bright way back then.

jbford · Jul 8, 2010

I had a WalMart gun and it never worked right. Spent $20 at Advance Auto Parts on a real nice one that will use either bulk or cartridges. It has a nice rubber piston that seals well against the cylinder.

May not last forever but so far better than the real cheap ones....

BTW I love Harbor freight. Wife and I love to go to the "Chinese Tool Store". They are usually good enough for us...Only buy quality on tractors and big tools like table saws (Bosch).

Pooh_Bear · Jul 11, 2010

I had the same problem with an air powered grease gun from HF. I was afraid to try trimming the rubber piston/seal. I removed the bulk grease filler fitting and replaced it with a zerk fitting. Stuck the tube of grease in my old lever action grease gun and pumped the HF grease gun full of grease. Kinda sounds stupid but I doubt I go thru 2 tubes of grease per year. And I hate the lever action that takes 3 hands to operate. This at least lets me use my air gun.

Pooh Bear

oughtsix · Jul 17, 2010

I bought a pistole grip gun 20 years ago and would never go back to a lever gun. With the pistol grip I can hold the hose on with one hand and pump with the other. With the lever guns you need two hands to pump. Why would anyone choose a lever style gun? I have never met a zirc I couldn't fill with my pistol grip.

have_blue · Jul 17, 2010

I have a $14 HF air operated gun. Used it in my tractor shed for ~9 years, and it works great. Have a $10 Wal-Mart lever gun at home for greasing riding mower, and it's OK for that. Someone gave me a HF battery operated gun, and I hated it. It was just too bulky, and charging was a headache. Had outrageous pressure, but the chuck was made of dead soft metal. It wore out in 6 months, and I didn't bother with replacing it. If my HF air gun were stolen, I would buy another one just like it.