Water Tight Grease Fittings

Replace them with the flat slide on type of grease fittings referred to as "button head grease fittings".

If the springs are not damaged the springs in the grease fittings will not allow water or whatever in the grease- if they are broken grease will blow back out of the fitting.

You should replace the grease gun fittings with button head grease fittings (they slide on top of the button head fittings and can not fall off)-much less hassle, easier to keep clean, can not be damaged by breaking the end of the zerk if the female end is very new and tight etc.

google (lincoln lubricating equipment)

google (alemite lubricating equipment)

google (button head grease fittings)

less convenient, but more protective- remove zerks, install plugs. To grease, remove plugs, install zerks, grease, then replace zerks with plugs. Not practical if you grease daily or more often.

Thanks for the ideas guys. The button head is a no-go due to the fact that the existing fittings are recessed into 1.25" dia x 1" deep counterbores (sorry I failed to mention this earlier). I don't think the plugging option would fly either. Our operators would, most likely, forego greasing of the chocks (which are to be greased daily)rather than swap plugs & zerks. I need the keep it simple or we could end up in a worse situation. I'm still open to suggestions. I'll keep on searching for an option.

Regards,

Dr Pepper

As I said before as long as the poppets are undamaged you willl have no contamination-just be sure to wipe the top of the fitting before you grease the bearings-if it is physically safe to do so- the other option is grease hose extensions to a single manifold if it is physically posible( with out a diagramof your set up I cant help much).

Mtararat,

You are absolutely right about the poppets being water tight in an undamaged condition. Unfortunately, some of our operators are less attentive to the condition of the fittings than are others. We have been using the plastic caps as a fail-safe for the zerk poppet. What I am seeking, is to find a simple, effective method to protect our bearings in case of a zerk poppet failure. With this, I also hope to eliminate/mitigate the human errors which started this task.

Others in the industry have used an air/oil system in place of greasing the bearing chocks. They use a manifold system, similar to what you describe. I would be overjoyed to go to such a system. Unfortunately, the modification is expensive & the company purse stings are tight.

Thank you for your help,

Dr Pepper