We're using a Milwaukee M12 grease gun at work and I thought the tip had gone bad, it was blowing as much grease past the fitting as into it. I put a new tip on from Advance Auto and got just marginal improvement. The gun will pump grease into the fitting if there's no resistance but once the joint approaches full it starts blowing out again at the zerk fitting. This is happening with every fitting I try. For kicks I put our old manual grease gun on the joints that were blowing past and am able to pump more grease in without any trouble. I like to pump grease into a joint or bearing until I see a little coming out of it but I'm not able to do this with the M12 without wasting half the grease and making a mess. Any ideas on what the issue is? I'm considering one of the lock on tips to try, any thoughts on that?
Lock'n'lube tip was quite possibly the best $30 I ever spent. I have it on an M18 gun.
I have a Lock N Lube on my M12 gun and it works perfect. A few months ago I bought a M18 gun and put a Lock N Lube on it right away and had issues with it so I put the end that came with the gun back on and have been getting along good with it so far. FWIW both guns get used pretty much everyday to some extent.
lock and lube and you will never go back there are some other brands now but I had early failures on some they even come with a rebuild kit although if you wipe the zerk off they last a long time we run 4 to 6 tubes a day and they last over a year
DITTO - X2 We have 3 M18's all with Lock'n'Lube tips. Wouldn't use anything else.
On some series of late steer axles with disc brakes on class 8 trucks you can't use any regular or lock n lube coupler, a stout greasing needle will have to be used to grease the top eye of the king-pin. Just so you know.
I use my L'n'L with all kinds of adapters, I even have a short hose with a grease fitting on one end and a standard coupler on the other. And, if I buy a truck like that, I'll come to Washington just so you can slap me!
I don't even know if my super tip is lock & lube. It is often a two hand job engaging it, so I use it only for stubborn fittings that don't easily take grease. Last week I had a normal NAPA tip explode.
I haven’t been using this tip long enough to give an honest review, but it’s been great to use so far.
Bit cheeky calling it a KY+. Load, lube, release and pull.
Apparently, this isn’t common knowledge. If the jaws do eventually wear out, you can take the tip apart, turn to jaws around, and get another run out of them.
Well I wasn't aware of that!! I think I have contributed to my problem. The new tip I put on had grease pumping out from between the front and rear half so I spun the front section off and wrapped the threads with teflon tape and torqued it down. No more grease leak but the tip is blowing past the zerk. Those little grabbers appear to be sprung, of my own doing. Good tip!! Sounds like the Lock n Lube is the way to go. I'll be interested in the adapters as I have a couple attachments where a bearing is located down inside an access hole where I wouldn't be able to manipulate the lock feature. I've had a need for the needle attachment too on real tight U joints.
Lock N Lube all the way. I tried one of the knockoff Lenox ones and it made it 3 months before failing. Not sure exactly how long, but have way more time on the LNL going through 2-4 tubes a day on the M12. I have a Lenox 90° adapter, and bought another grease hose for the original tip to have an extension that fits the few times the LNL is too bulky.
I dunno what we’re gunna do with you RC, you seem to have a one track mind.
Queenslander.. How much are those over there? Just curious.
RC wasn't the only one that made a snicker..
I've been using Lock N Lube for years now, no way I'm going back to standard grease couplers. Only drawback to them, if you encounter a fitting that the joint is fowled, won't take grease and locks down from pressure, the higher the pressure the tighter the LnL coupler grips, can't pop it loose. If you hear your grease gun start to strain, stop. If you don't, popping that coupler loose is a challenge.
When I finally bought mine at the end of last year, the packaging said they had redesigned it to fix that. Mine has never done it.
I have always run a 2 or even a 3 ft. hose on my hand grease guns . Then you can always reach in and hold the fitting while you brace the gun against your leg or what ever is handy. I have never seen the lock n lube , but ill be looking for some tomorrow . They look like the answer. My cranes have a lot of grease fittings so i like the Lincoln air grease the best the hose can be a pain ,but the electric grease guns seem a bit awkward when your climbing around the gantry and into tight spots
Best that I could find was A$37... around the same price as a locknlube here.
By Milwaukee grease gun has a pressure release button.
Huh, never seen that. Where at?
Look for a black button on the front, IF it has one. Here is a neat way to bleed the pressure off. http://univer-co.net/en/products/grease-gun-pressure-release-valve/ It looks like they sell a lock on tip also. Videos about the products too. I saw this on ebay ------>
Mine has a black button on top to let the air out of the barrel. That must be a stout valve to stand the pressure. That nut AvE on youtube got 12,000 psi out of his.
Nah, two tracks. But hydrostatic, so one often goes forward and the other backwards.
I like the lock n lube also on equipment I gave it a shot on dump trucks and ditched it for a normal coupler to many zerks in weird spots .
I did get the Lock n Lube tip, the long version as some of our fittings are behind guards. It's working out very well with the Milwaukee power greaser but there are about 3 fittings I have to get with the pump gun, I just can't get a good angle with the new tip. All in all I'm very pleased with it. I've learned to give the tip just a little wiggle after I've locked it in place to really seat it tight and I have no blowby. Thanks for the "tip"!!
I just use a short hose with a grease fitting on one end, and a standard coupler on the other for tight spots.
I physical threw my pistol grease gun in the garbage on my last attempt to use it. It never worked correctly and was really peeving me off. I hope to purchase a new lock n lube manual grease gun. You have to shell out $150 to get the USA made version. The heavy price makes me want to entertain cordless powered units. Any pro's / cons on the DeWalt vs Milwaukee cordless units with a lock n lube coupler?
I have a Milwaukee absolutely love it. But I have other Milwaukee tools so I always have a charged battery. Both are probably just as good, go with the one you already have batteries for.
we run dewalt greasers work great but I would only use whatever battery system your already using or want to commit to
Exactly what I was going to say!
I had previously used 18V DeWalt tools at work but discovered the Milwaukee M12 tools last year and have been switching to them. They perform every bit as well as the DeWalts do and with a longer battery life. Only down side is they don't give you any warning other than the digital fuel gauge that the battery is low, you get full performance from full charge to empty and then it just stops. Maybe that's not a down side after all. With a spare battery it doesn't matter much. I went with the Milwaukee grease gun for this reason and bought one for myself as well.
I agree one of the most annoying part of my cordless tools is the variety of power packs and chargers. I have mostly 18v Dewalt Tools. However last year I acquired a 12 volt Milwaukee cordless ratchet. I will always have the 18v dewalt's around. I think they are great tools, but I am not opposed to adding more 12v milwaukee's to the mix. So either power brand tool works for me if it will accept 18v dewalt's or m12 batteries. It sounds like either brand works well. Now it is just a matter of finding a good deal. Thanks for the input!
I use the M12 Milwaukee daily, coworker uses the 18v Dewalt daily. They both work great. Mine just weighs less, even with the XC batteries.
I used to be yellow for cordless tools but then I saw the light. Red. Milwaukee. I have their grease gun with the lock N Lube tip, works great for 99% of my applications. In the #2 speed position it will blow through almost any grease fitting.
I received a gift card for my birthday and ordered a new M12 Milwaukee grease gun. I also ordered a lock n lube coupling for it. I will provide a update on my first impressions after I get a chance to operate it. I am really excited to have a functioning grease gun I can operate without all the headaches my old unit provided. On the battle of red versus yellow: I honestly would have preferred a 18v Dewalt versus the Milwaukee counterpart. The majority of my tools are 18v nicad and I would prefer to stick with NiCad batteries until all my tools need replaced. I still have and use my first 18V cordless drill from circa 2004. It still works great! One of its first uses entailed drilling out 3/8" steel bolts in an exhaust flange. The housing of the tool got so hot I could not hold the unit anymore. Ever since that first use i get a little wiff of burnt electrical smell, but it has never let me down. I bought a second backup tool kit around 2013-2014. Supposedly the same tools, but they don't feel quite as stout as the original. Long story short I could not find a new 18V NiCad grease gun for sale. They are discontinued and everyone is switching to different lithium style batteries.
FWIW One of my customers has a large assortment of dewalt cordless tools. He has both 18V and 20V . I noticed awhile back that he had some adapters so he could use 20V lithium batteries on his 18V tools.
Good information Bam. Did you happen to notice how long the charge in the 20 V battery lasts in an 18 volt tool. I really like the small size and light weight of those 20V batteries.
I have one of those adapters. Works well, let's me keep using my old 18volt drill and sawzall. I don't know if battery life is comparable though, I never run the old tools long enough to kill a battery in one of them.
My dad has an adapter to use the newer lithium batteries on his older NiCad tools. I will stay in the NiCad game until the tools die and or they stop selling XRP NiCad 18V replacement batteries. I have 5 or 6 different NiCad batteries that are still in good working order. I will have to ask him if he noticed any difference in performance or life of the newer batteries when used with the adapter. I looked around more and found a 18V grease gun for sale. It was listed at $75 bare tool so I figured I'd buy one just for comparison. Turns out it was a scammer website. Ooops good thing I did not give them by bank account information or send them my social. These scammers get more and more realistic everyday. How about putting some of that wasted coding effort into a service or worthwhile purpose? Anyways if anyone is selling an old 18v NiCad Dewalt grease gun I would buy it if the price was right. It would be a backup and just a good comparison of the two brands.