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Grease Gun Tips

Steve Frazier

Founder
Staff member
Joined
Oct 30, 2003
Messages
6,599
Location
LaGrangeville, N.Y.
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?
 

bam1968

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2014
Messages
528
Location
IA
Occupation
Excavating Contractor
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.
 

Jonas302

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2015
Messages
1,197
Location
mn
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
 

Truck Shop

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2015
Messages
16,535
Location
WWW.
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.
 

mitch504

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2010
Messages
5,776
Location
Andrews SC
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!
 

Willie B

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2016
Messages
4,038
Location
Mount Tabor VT
Occupation
Electrician
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.
 

Queenslander

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
1,227
Location
Australia
I haven’t been using this tip long enough to give an honest review, but it’s been great to use so far.
 

LN Pipeline

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2019
Messages
150
Location
Montana, USA
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.
 

Steve Frazier

Founder
Staff member
Joined
Oct 30, 2003
Messages
6,599
Location
LaGrangeville, N.Y.
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.
 

MarshallPowerGen

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2017
Messages
442
Location
Northwestern USA
Occupation
Generator Technician & Equipment Mechanic
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.
 

willie59

Administrator
Joined
Dec 21, 2008
Messages
13,361
Location
Knoxville TN
Occupation
Service Manager
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.
 

mitch504

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2010
Messages
5,776
Location
Andrews SC
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.
 

Tugger2

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2018
Messages
1,366
Location
British Columbia
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
 
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