How to Grease a Fitting With a Grease Gun
Grease fittings in the machinery lubrication industry are referred to as zerks---a strange name for such a small part that plays an extremely basic lubrication maintenance role. They are made of metal, thread into the metal surrounding the joint that requires regular lubrication maintenance, and are available in different sizes and orientation angles. Grease gun dispensing heads, or grease couplers, are also available in different sizes to accommodate different zerk sizes. Zerks are also interchangeable between different sizes and angle orientations. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Lever action grease gun
- Grease
- Cloth rags or paper towels
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Instructions
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1
Wipe the zerk, or grease fitting, clean with a cloth rag or a paper towel. Grease and dirt build-up should be removed so contaminated grease is not injected into the grease joint.
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2
Connect the grease coupler on the lever action grease gun to the zerk. You will know that the size of the zerk is compatible with the size of the grease coupler because the grease coupler will fit tightly onto the zerk fitting.
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3
Pump the grease gun handle a few times, or until all of the old grease is forced out of the joint and new grease begins to emerge. Detach the grease coupler from the zerk fitting.
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4
Wipe excess grease off of the zerk fitting and from the end of the grease coupler.
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Tips & Warnings
When greasing tight areas, it may be a good idea to change the zerk to an angled zerk (45-degree or 90-degree) that will allow for greater ease in reaching the grease fitting.
References
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Comments
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This is a seasame street level instruction. Thanks. I'm interested in the different types of gun couplers and how to use them to grease joints with zerk fittings. Been using crappy hand tightened couplers, are there alternatives that work better?
