I don't own a lot of heavy equipment, or do I? Anyway, I have a Case backhoe I grease near every day I use it. Many of the grease fittings are protected from damage by being in the middle of a pocket. It takes 15 minutes with electric grease gun to grease, but 45 minutes to clean the fittings before greasing. I use a paper towel to wipe the excess grease squirts out as I remove the lock & Lube nozzle after greasing. Those on a pocket are a bear to clean. I use a folded paper towel & a screwdriver to chase it around & it's pretty time consuming. It occurs to me half the grease goes to waste. A lot quicker to clean out with a blow gun & compressed air. Then I need a bath & change of clothes, clean my safety glasses. I recently used a old style grease coupler, first fitting I couldn't get the coupler off the zerk, had to pry it off with a screwdriver. It still squirted extra grease everywhere even worse than the Lock & Lube lever style coupler. Lock & Lube now offers a valve for your specific brand gun to relieve back pressure. It is a little hand rotated valve. It looks good, but it must be opened & closed each fitting. My backhoe has sixty grease fittings That is 120 extra steps to grease it. Anyone got a solution?
I'm wondering why you have so much blow back, have plenty of equipment and don't get more than a little dab after uncoupling and almost no back pressure unless the zerk is clogged, Are your fittings taking grease smoothly or is the gun straining and clacking? How long is your grease hose? I don't have the lock-n-lube just a regular end, if grease leaks out when greasing I'll change that fitting because its damaged. What brand of gun is it? I've had bushings that were installed wrong and really restricted grease flow, but pressing them out and back in fixed the issue. I don't spend much time cleaning around grease fittings, a spin with a screwdriver and a whip with a rag and grease it up.
Some of your zerks may need replacing if a lot of grease is oozing out when releasing….and/or as fast_st says restriction. I use an old school long lever Lincoln & when greasing a pocket protected zerk can be really hard to release (much more so with a new tip) had this happen last week where had to actually use a lever to get released… I used to be fussy when cleaning around zerks; these days I just give the face of the zerk a quick wipe with a shop towel. Recessed pockets of course I clean out quick (small screwdriver) to allow full engagement of the tip. Have a lock & lube but don’t use it much as pretty restrictive as to where it fits…
I have an antique lincoln that I'm certain would explode a stuck grease fitting.
No, first machine I ever owned with all the fittings freely take grease. No great volume, probably half teaspoon each fitting squirts out. Sitting here now, it occurs might my hose probably three feet long be expanding a bit with each fitting, then contracting? Milwaukee gun, & no it isn't struggling. I store the gun in heated space in winter. When I use a new conventional nozzle it can be tough to get it off the fitting, An old worn out nozzle works better, but in winter it doesn't seal well & grease doesn't always go into the fitting.
Agree, Either the zerk is clogged or the pin is. It should never build pressure enough that you need to pry it off
So what if you gave it say five seconds after greasing before releasing the coupler? I'd guess the check ball in the fitting would add some back pressure.
I don't believe the check in the fitting is failing on 60 grease fittings on one machine & another 60? other fittings on other machines. I believe the excess grease is coming from the hose. This new gadget I found looked very good until I realized I need to close this valve 60 times & reopen it 60 times. I'm one of those unfortunate people with two hands. Gun in one hand, nozzle in the other, opening a valve, then closing is freeing one hand 120 times. That ain't speeding the task! It occurs to me there must be a check valve in the head of the grease gun. Excess comes under pressure after the pump is stopped.
Not suggesting a failure but the residual pressure needed to open the ball, maybe leaving a couple hundred psi in the hose. I use a pair of dewalt guns and there's only a small amount of grease from a 3' hose.
I've seen chemical line type checks and little turn valves to stop this
If it is not pressure and just a tight coupler, you can unscrew the coupler a bit, not where it attaches to the hose but in the coupler itself, and that will reduce the pressure on the coupler teeth for lack of a better word. Once it wears a bit just snug it up.
Try a shorter hose and see if it's any different?
Lock&Lube sells a foot pump greaser with a pressure relief when you lift up the pedal. It's a really good unit. Not cheap but worth the cash and holds a fair amount of grease for long periods without refill. I can't say that I ever bother to clean fittings prior to latching then unless they are in a pocket and full of debris. I don't bother to wipe them off after greasing, either. I use mostly air grease pumps on 120 lb kegs to speed things up. If you have 60 grease points and want to save time (and time = money), put in manifold distribution blocks and remote lines. I grease 10-12 fitting points with equal amounts of grease from 1 input point. Instead of climbing around a machine to hit every point, I latch on one location and count the seconds required to see grease ooze out of a known fitting. Longer count in cold weather, shorter count in hot conditions. I score manifolds from Ebay and hoses & fittings from autolubeparts.com, making my own custom lines with reusable hose ends. One of the best time investments that I have made to my equipment.
404 error; not found. Autolubeparts.com doesn't seem to be a good site.
That sucks if they went under. They had a great catalog of fittings and hose for reasonable prices. Looking at an old receipt, their info is as follows: Automated Maintenance Solutions, LLC Dba Lubecore Midwest, LLC Mail : 4402 Pine Lake Drive Shipping : 2993 Pearl Road Medina, OH 44256 USA P: 1-330-871-4006 C: 1-330-283-6111 @: [email protected] [WWW.Autolubeparts.com]www.autolubeparts.com Maybe try giving them a call tomorrow?
If you're getting excessive pressure that causes difficulty disconnecting the coupler, also causes the hose to swell with each pump of the gun, then there's no doubt you have a restricted grease path. The only solution for that is knock the pin out and in some cases the bushing if the grease path flows through the bushing to grease the pin and clear what's causing the restriction.
Just thought i would comment on an interesting discussion you guys are having... I have a Milwaukee cordless grease gun and I think one of the best things about it is the long hose so I wouldn't trade that for a short one. I have added an other coupler to mine and it might help with some of the problems you are having. The one I have is a "Macnaught KY+ coupler". I think they are awesome to use and have had a couple of them now. I don't know if you have "Macnaught" in the US but I assume you do. I'll add a YouTube link with a video on how they work. Compared to other quick coupler styles I have had they are much smaller in the size of the nozzle end, about the size of a standard one, so still fit into tight spots. It compares them in the video too.
I like the looks of that! I don't believe I have seen those here.
I like the looks of the KY+ and have found them online. Looks like $30 so not bad Edit: they make a XL (longer) for $40
Buy the stuff directly from Macnaught it's free ship. They also have fuel xfer pumps cheaper the Fill-rite
I have certainly had equipment in past with restricted grease path. Any old coupler will lock on & won't come loose in that case. This happened to be a new conventional coupler & it sticks to any fitting. There might be some minor pressure coming back from a joint but not 60 fittings on a modern machine that has taken grease freely. I'm going to explore the notion that I'm getting stretch in hose diameter.
Looks to me I'd need very good traction to operate this coupler with one hand. Lock & Lube is a squeezing motion, even when my hand is slimed up from grease I can still manage it. I think I'll try one of these to see how it works.
Your wives want to see you guys using the old style hand lever guns. That really turns them on.
Glad you guys like the look of them! It’s nice to be able to share something useful. I have another brand one as well that I got at the same time I got my first KY+ I think it’s still in the packet in my grease gun bag. I’ll check tomorrow to see what it is, it is slimline style as well. If you order one just make sure you get the correct thread to match your hose, they offer two types!
I don't see how this is helping anything.
I ordered one but it didn't give me the option of a different hose thread. Got the -02 and bought from Macnaught USA .com
You will be surprised if you try one… I use it one handed. I find there is a lot less mess with them as well. If you get a blocked grease passage and stall the gun out a couple times on the high pressure setting they can be a bit stiff to uncouple. But with the standard snap on style couplers that scenario usually results in a lot of swearing trying to get it to release and eventually often a broken or stripped grease fitting stuck in the coupler! Then the fun of disassembling it to get the busted piece out.
I honestly think it was some kind of inside joke when the Macnaught people named the thing! LOL The “+” might be because it is under pressure… if they get together and offer this stuff in standard grease cartridges so you can put them in a Milwaukee battery gun they might find an unexpected market!!!
I’ll check and see which one I have tomorrow. The -01 is BSP The -02 is NPT On the Australian website they offer both. I am having a blank moment but I think apart from the obvious straight vs tapered… I think there is only 1tpi difference between the two treads IIRC. If that is the case you could probably get it to work regardless. I do think I have the -02 anyway
That Macnaught system looks to have a diameter advantage over the Lock&Lube plus an internal pressure relief. Looks to be worth a try for some of my tight driveline fittings. That would likely be the perfect fitting to add to the end of my extension hose that normally has the conventional coupler on it for deep driveline reaches. The pressure lock is what usually killed my conventional couplers. It was not uncommon for me to trash 6-12 conventional couplers per year. Since I started using the L&L couplers, I usually get 1-2 years of use before I need to use the rebuild kit. This saves time, money and a lot of frustration compared to the conventionals. The typical return pressure is usually the biggest problem for any coupler. Where does the pressure relief on the Macnaught bleed out to? Oozing grease at the back side of the coupler??? Or someplace else??? Interested in hearing some reviews after a few of you guys try them out. The only greaser that I have used with internal pressure relief (grease returned to reservoir) is that L&L stomp pump that I mentioned.
This looks handy.
I use the Milwaukee gun too and get similar lock on issues but I just about guarantee it's my zerks. I don't know that I've tried the little air relief button you can see just above the valve in Tinkerer's post there? So maybe the valve is right at the hose? It's frustrating when it happens but mine doesn't seem to happen nearly as often as Willie's.
On mine it is someplace else. If you have a blocked nipple and the coupler is locked on tight from the pressure, you pull the hook back and it slowly releases pressure over a couple of seconds, then you pull it off.
People have misread my posts. Using a conventional NEW coupler, I had one nipple stick. I blame the new coupler. It seems I remember an old one years ago I had to unthread a bit to make functional. The Lock & Lube nozzle has never stuck on a fitting. It does however, spew 1/2 teaspoon of grease as I release it from each of 60 fittings on this machine & probably 60 on other machines total. I see no difference. I am triumphant! ALL my fittings take grease! Not my first rodeo. I came up poorer than now. First tractor, no problem greasing. I believe it had never been greased in 15 years. Grease channels in all joints were free. Everything I've owned since has had some blocked joints. I've practiced every Sunday technique there is. Most often it comes down to disassembling the joint, scraping the hard grease out. Often it needs a new bushing & pin.
Its peculiar, but the electric grease guns are great esp when you need to unload 2 tubes to grease a complicated machine.