Tag Archives: Grease

My Grease fitting will not take grease on my heavy equipment. What should I do?

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Grease fitting is attached to the top of the grease gun and it delivers grease from grease gun under high pressure to inside of the sealed joints of heavy equipments. For the efficient functioning grease fittings should be free of dirt and not contain hardened grease. However, grease fittings get clogged and become ineffective in delivery of grease (malfunction).The following are some of the solutions to overcome this problem:

  1. Spraying petroleum based spray onto a grease fitting and cleaning it with a cloth will clean the grease fitting.
  2. Heat the clogged fittings with a propane torch or heat gun on a low flame. Following which the grease gun should be attached and flow of new grease will push soften old grease out and will clear the fitting.
  3. To attach commercial grease fitting cleaners such Zecker Zap, IPA, Powerfist and Performance tools to the clogged fitting. They are attached to one end of the grease fitting, injected with light viscosity oil and then stroked with a hammer. This will force the oil into fitting and will clear it of the hardened grease. Thus, these tools help to clear fitting without removing, replacing, digging or scraping. Applying this option has advantages that one does not have to pay for labour charges, reduces maintenance costs and downtime.
  4. When the above solutions do not work, then the grease fittings have to be taken apart to clean off the grease.
  5. After unscrewing the fitting, its passage is cleaned with a wire and filled with motor oil. The fitting is replaced and oil is pumped up, which will soften the grease and get it out.
  6. Sometimes there is a hydraulic lock at the zerk and which seals it. One has to loosen this component so that grease flows in.
  7. Sometimes the little ball in the tip of zerk gets friction stiffness or dirt gets collected over it and just needs to be loosened. A small sharp object can be used to dislodge the tip.
  8. Most the grease hardens on the zerk fitting. After taking the grease fitting taken apart, the zerk fitting is removed. A very small flat head screwdriver is used to remove all the grease out of the opening. The remaining can be cleaned using oil. A new zerk fitting is used and new grease is pumped till it comes out of the seals.
  9. If the above methods are not effective, then the fittings can be replaced with new ones as they are inexpensive.

Additional few things although minor, need to considered when grease does not flow into grease fittings. Sometimes there is lack of contact of the tip of the grease gun and zerk of fitting. There is also a possibility that the grease gun nozzle is worn out and leads to collection of grease around the zerk. Hence, replacing it with a new nozzle works for a long time. Also, one used use superior quality of grease. Finally, a daily scheduled servicing of the grease fitting is necessary for proper maintenance of the equipment.

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Grease Your Machine Regularly to Make It Work Better

The heavy equipment that work for you all day long are prone to frequent break downs if proper care is not taken. One should service the machine on regular basis thus increasing the life of the equipment. Maintaining the machine is of utter importance as it not only gives it some air to breathe but also ensures that it works uninterruptedly for a long time. Ignoring this can result in frequent problems like the machine may all of a sudden cease to work. This will lead to further complications like calling a mechanic to get it fixed and keeping your fingers crossed on the fact that it may take good number of days to get it back up and running. You may also be asked to replace a part with a new one. At times, those parts remain unavailable with the dealer and they have to order it directly from the company. This means that you are without your machine for some more days. The delay in getting the problem fixed is causing you to lose money which no business person would like to tolerate. The complications could be endless and one might not want to taste any of it. Hence, it is prudent to grease the heavy equipment at on daily regular intervals
Since we have spoken about the ill-effects of not servicing your machine regularly, we would now be diverting our attention on the right kind of grease one should be using on their machine.
Let us first understand what this grease is made up of. It is a mixture of oil, thickeners and addictives. So if you want to grease for the engine of the machine, you may go for synthetic oil. This oil is a bit expensive if compared with other varieties but has the ability to resist oxidation in tremendously hot environment and in extreme cold temperature, they can give better mobility in the automatic lubrication dispensing system of the engine. The synthetic oil is till now the best engine oil used by users.
Molybdenum disulfide:- Molybdenum disulfide is grease that has additives in it. It’s also known as “Molly”. EP greases has around 3 to 5% of Molly that is used for high pressure applications. It helps in filling the microscopic machining marks found on the bushing and the pin and reduces the friction of these two items in the machine particularly when it’s on with some heavy stressful stuff. Having said this, not all EP greases have Molly in it. Various types of EP greases can be used for lubricating the machine which is with or without Molybdenum disulfide.
Using Thickeners:- Applying grease without thickeners can soon leave the machine without any lubrication. Thickeners are used in grease which is applied in the joint or bearing of the equipment. Well this doesn’t implies that one should be using too much of thickener in the grease. In cold weather condition, the less the thickener is used in the grease, the better grease may pump. This is completely on the contrary in extreme hot temperature or for high temperature applications. The thickeners which are most commonly used are lithium. It also has a mixture of aluminum and calcium soaps but the proportion is far less.
This is how one can use different kind of grease for different applications. One may also take help of heavy equipment manuals to understand the kind of grease that would work better on the machine.