A grease gun is a great gadget to have around the house. Whether you are mechanically minded or love to tinker with engineering projects, you can only benefit from the hundred uses of a good grease gun if you know how to fill it up.

Any DIY lover who has ever tried to use grease without an organised system will tell you that it gets messy. Not only does using grease out the tin get messy, but it also gets everywhere. It takes huge volumes of soap to remove a grease stain once it is in your carpet. You can never quite fully remove that grease, which is why we have tools dedicated to using it without the mess. It is also why we need to follow guides on refilling products like a grease gun, so we don’t ruin our homes.

Avoid flu season with some car based DIY projects. Here is all you need to know about the safe handling of new grease cartridges.

What is a Grease Gun?

For all of you who are not familiar with a grease gun, it is a tool we use to place grease precisely where we want it. The grease comes inside a canister, which goes inside the metal tube of the gun. The top of the gun has a trigger at one end and a nipple at the other. The nipple allows for precision application of your grease. When you pull the trigger it applies pressure to a plunger at the bottom of the canister, squeezing the grease out to where you need it.

Tips on Buying your Grease Gun

The best grease gun is a simple device which comes with compatible grease tubes. When you use the pre-packed tubes of grease, you don’t need to get messy and the grease is controlled at all times. When you need to buy new cartridges, check their size before you buy. There are assorted sizes of guns. The best cartridges have ring pull or foil openings on both ends. This makes them easier to refill.

What is the standard grease gun cartridge size?

Standard grease gun cartridge size is 56 mm and 300 mm in length.

How to Refill Your Grease Gun?

When you want to change to a new cartridge, follow these steps.

Step 1 – Remove the plunger part from your grease gun and set it aside.

Step 2 – Remove the old cartridge from inside your canister and discard it.

Step 3 – Open the new cartridge on one end.

Step 4 – Insert the open end of the cartridge into the tube.

Step 5 – When fully inserted, open the exposed end of the grease tube.

Step 6 – Replace the cap, including the trigger and nozzle, on your grease gun.

Step 7 – Replace the plunger last.

Step 8 – Give the trigger an experimental squeeze and you should see grease from the nozzle.

If you have a different type of grease gun, such as a battery powered or a reservoir gun, the process is similar. Buy grease gun cartridges which match your make and model of device. Lastly, remember to check the batteries as a first solution on electronic grease guns that stop working.