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Are you having trouble priming your grease gun?
If so, then you have come to the right place. There are many possible reasons why your grease gun won’t prime.
Priming your grease gun can be a challenging task, whether you have experience using them or not.
However, the task should not be difficult if you know a few tricks and how to work around them.
This post will teach you more about the common issues and how to prime your grease gun.
I have been using these grease guns for a long time, and several have stopped working or became less efficient for one reason or the other.
In most cases, these grease guns started operating properly again after a simple repair.
Therefore, if your grease gun won’t prime, you can try my advice.
But before we get into priming your grease gun, let’s first talk about the possible reasons behind the issues with the equipment.
Common Issues that Can Prevent Your Grease Gun from Priming
As I mentioned earlier, there are plenty of reasons why your grease gun might fail to prime.
For instance, there is a high chance that you will have some problems with your grease equipment if you have recently invested in a new one.
You may think the case might be different for you if you have had experience with multiple grease guns before.
However, there are often minor issues that can often mess with how effective your new grease gun can be.
Lucky for me and you, most of these problems with grease guns have a solution.
Here are some of the issues that have prevented my grease gun from priming in the past.
Alongside the problems, I have provided the solution and how to get your equipment working in no time.
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My Grease Gun Won’t Prime after I Install a New Cartridge
This problem is by far the most frequent issue I have had in the past. Additionally, most of my friends often cite the reason after installing a brand-new cartridge.
Of course, it can be frustrating to replace your grease gun cartridge, and you can’t seem to get any grease coming out of the nozzle.
When you install a new cartridge, the most common issue that may prevent it from working is the trapped air at the top of the cannon.
With the air trapped between the nozzle and the grease, trying to get grease can be a nightmare. Luckily, the problem is very simple, and you can fix it through a few simple steps.
To get the grease gun working, follow these few simple steps.
- Step 1: – Rotate your grease gun’s base in anti-clockwise direction to release the trapped air. Two or three spins are enough to bleed out the air completely.
- Step 2: – While turning the base, keep pumping the grease gun to enable the air escape.
- Step 3: – Once the grease starts leaking out the end, rotate the base back in the clockwise direction to re-seal the grease gun.
Following the steps above is the simplest technique to handle the air that settles on the grease gun’s top.
If pumping does not help you get the grease out of the nozzle, you can use your fingers and a rag to push it to the end of the cartridge.
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Perhaps You Haven’t Removed the Cap that Holds the Grease
Although it may seem like an easy and stupid error, many people can fail to get their grease guns priming due to leaving the cap on.
These caps are meant to keep the grease inside the gun before you can start using it. If you are a seasoned user, that might not be a problem.
However, you may newbies have failed to remove the cap, and that might be the reason why your grease gun isn’t priming.
Fixing this issue is as easy as removing the cap on the top of the grease gun cartridge, and that would get your grease gun working.
Additionally, certain grease gun cartridges may include a tiny metal tab that you have to remove alongside the cap.
Ensure you check if the metal is causing the trouble; if yes, remove it, and your grease gun will start priming.
A Faulty Grease Gun Spring
If you have tried everything else but the grease gun won’t prime, chances are the grease does not produce enough pressure to push the grease into the chamber.
That is the most common problem that you can encounter if you use a manual grease gun.
Fixing this problem is simple.
However, you may have to purchase a new grease gun spring.
Once you replace the old spring, your grease will start working again.
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3 Reasons Why Your Grease Gun Won’t Prime With Solutions
There are plenty of factors that might prevent your grease gun from priming.
However, you do not have to go through all the trouble if you know a few tricks.
Primarily, your grease gun will not prime if air is trapped at the top of the cannon because you haven’t removed the cap and metal tab and finally, when the grease gun spring does not generate enough pressure to push the gun grease out the nozzle.
If you are experiencing the problems above, follow the tips above to get your grease gun working functioning properly.
Last update on 2025-03-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API