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Aren all grease guns messy?

MushCreek

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Upstate South Carolina
I have three grease guns hanging from studs in my shop. One day, I noticed that the C-clamps below them were all greasy. In hot weather, all three guns drip an oily substance, I guess from the grease breaking down. Anyone got any cool grease gun storage ideas? I was thinking some kind of holster made of large PVC pipe, with a cap on the bottom to catch the drips. What do you guys do?
 
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Extsp2

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Aug 21, 2019
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North Easton
i have the same problem. One of mine being an air powered one that gets used a lot. I haven't come up with any ideas I like other than putting a bucket on the floor under them.
 

mybigwarwagon

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Vale, Nc
Hang a coke (or whatever you favorite plastic bottled libation is) bottle on teh wall and stick the end of the tube in it. Either screw the bottle to the wall, or if you want to get really fancy, put an appropriately sized PCV pipe cap on the wall and stick the hose in that, easily replaceable when it gets too funky.
 

johninct

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NO... they are all not that messy!!! It may be the grease that you use. I use John Deere grease but for the last few years not doing much greasing. Mine sit for months and not much mess.
 

Two Door

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Houston, TX - USA
I store mine horizontally in a Rubbermaid-like tote/caddy such as is used to carry cleaning supplies. A long flat box of the same plastic would do the same. It is inefficient space-wise but at least the mess is contained and easy to wipe up.
 
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Jason280

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I keep mine in a small bucket, and always pull a rubber glove over the ends.
 

highland512

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Somewhere near a cornfield
NO... they are all not that messy!!! It may be the grease that you use. I use John Deere grease but for the last few years not doing much greasing. Mine sit for months and not much mess.

^^^What he said

I find that most average grease to be bad about the oil separating out, Lucas Red and Tacky being one of the worst. I keep synthetic (Schaeffers Moly Ultra 221) on hand at all time just for the ease of not having a grease mess on the floor below the guns and I think its a better product.
 

johninct

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Dec 21, 2010
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I am going to solve 90% +of grease gun problems for you guys:

Buy a quality grease gun.
Buy quality grease.
Read the instructions on how to set it up, load it for your application and, if necessary prime it.
Get a lock and lube or equivalent.
Clean off your grease fittings before greasing and then, wipe off excess grease that comes out. Keep rags readily available and try to not make a mess. Don't be a slob.
Clean off the grease gun with some type of solvent before putting it away clean.

90%+ of problems solved within the first use of doing it the right way.
 

CR888

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Feb 19, 2017
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How grease is stored & in what environment will dictate how quickly it separates as it suffers deterioration. Store in a cool spot away from UV in the best sealed container as possible. Stored well it should last many years.
 

giants

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Thanks for your post.

On a related note, What brands/models do you'll recommend and not recommend?

Thanks
 

Downwindtracker 2

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Jun 13, 2019
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BC
I am going to solve 90% +of grease gun problems for you guys:

Buy a quality grease gun.
Buy quality grease.
Read the instructions on how to set it up, load it for your application and, if necessary prime it.
Get a lock and lube or equivalent.
Clean off your grease fittings before greasing and then, wipe off excess grease that comes out. Keep rags readily available and try to not make a mess. Don't be a slob.
Clean off the grease gun with some type of solvent before putting it away clean.

90%+ of problems solved within the first use of doing it the right way.

It would be nice if it would be so easy. But oil is supposed to weep out of the soap. That's how it works.I have half a dozen guns left over from work, they have a variety greases, from Aeroshell to SWEPCO 101, that's grease as good as you can buy, all in high quality guns . The company paid for them. They all weep, they sit in a bucket weeping together. You dry their tears when you want to use them.
 

redwrench60

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East Tennessee
Don’t overthink it. Set a 5 gallon bucket in the corner or nail it to a stud about waist high and hang your grease guns by the pistol grips inside the bucket. Empty once every decade. Bucket also doubles as a funnel drainer/storage rack.
 
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67CarGuy

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Feb 6, 2008
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Outside Boston, MA
Sounds like Red's got it right. No need to overthink. If you hang it by the plunger, there's that much less pressure on the grease to leak out. Yes it's upside down, but that's the way my dad's done it for decades and there is NO grease spot on the floor.
 

Farmall450

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Dec 23, 2011
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Marengo, Illinois
My lincoln hand guns always leak a bit. My DeWalt doesn't a leak a drop, using the same lubriplate grease. however, it's stored horizontally.
 

Djosbun

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Oct 29, 2017
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Ohio
The only type of grease that will not weep is PTFE/PFPE grease, which is white in color.

-- Dave
 

xjfish

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Feb 22, 2014
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Most of you guys are overthinking this IMHO. Grease is greasy. I hang mine up in the "oil drain pan area" and the offending concrete areas get a blast of brake clean and a paper towel swipe once in awhile...
 

anndel

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Oct 28, 2015
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Hawaii, USA
Not really, I hang it on the garage wall and have the coupling in a jar. The bottom of the grease gun sits in a larger jar.
 

sberry

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Brethren, Michigan
Making something to hang them upside down is a good idea. They might even work better. Bucket is good idea for most.
 

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ckblum

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Jan 20, 2013
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BC, Canada
I keep my grease and tubes in my service truck, along with funnels, drain hoses, sucky-gun etc. Clean garage, one less thing to store haha.
 

darkzero

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Oct 20, 2011
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SoCal
I used to store my grease guns horizontally in their original boxes with the guns wrapped in towels. But everytime I pulled em out to use them they would drip oil.

Most greases will seperate if stored in a grease gun under compression. They say you should store the grease gun uncompressed, with the plunger pulled back a bit. But I ain't got no time for that.

I was gonna make a grease gun holder out of PVC like people commonly do but couldn't find the size I wanted. I needed a filler item for a Summit order so I just bought the grease gun caddies & mounted them to the back of my work bench.


0092e4dae8625c647b46080fe21bade2.jpg
 

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blwn31

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Aug 16, 2014
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I use the grease gun holders that mount on the wall from Summit like in post 13 of this thread. I don't have enough posts to insert links.

Keith
 

Unruh

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Aug 12, 2017
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Silverdale, Washington
I copied this from my garage build...

So my grease gun is always smearing grease on random stuff. I wanted a place to store it that would help stop that, but also help keep it clean. After a quick online search, I found some pictures that seemed perfect.

I bought a two foot long 3” piece of ABS as well as two 3” caps.

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I then cut slots down the sides so it could be recessed in.

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I cut it down from 24" down to 14". Then I test fitted. Seemed good!

attachment.php
 

Unruh

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Added a spot for the hose to set into.

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I cut one some of the extra ABS in half and used them for spacers. This would allow the top and bottom cap to be removed later.

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All mounted on the wall. I didn't glue on the bottom so that I could remove it and clean it later if I wanted.

attachment.php
 

Spareparts

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Mar 12, 2010
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Location
Lansing Ks.
On my service truck I tried everything to keep it clean, nothing was effective so I finally just put them on the bottom shelf lying down. The chain storage in below that and I know that shelf won't rust out and no ones wants to borrow my chains, problem solved.
 

fourjeepin

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Feb 12, 2011
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Location
Atlanta, GA
I like the black pipe, but here’s mine.
 

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MushCreek

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Jan 14, 2015
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Location
Upstate South Carolina
I used to store my grease guns horizontally in their original boxes with the guns wrapped in towels. But everytime I pulled em out to use them they would drip oil.

Most greases will seperate if stored in a grease gun under compression. They say you should store the grease gun uncompressed, with the plunger pulled back a bit. But I ain't got no time for that.

I was gonna make a grease gun holder out of PVC like people commonly do but couldn't find the size I wanted. I needed a filler item for a Summit order so I just bought the grease gun caddies & mounted them to the back of my work bench.


0092e4dae8625c647b46080fe21bade2.jpg

I didn't know that there was a commercially available product. Those look nice!
 

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