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Plugged grease lines and fittings

michaelthomas

Cast Iron
Joined
Aug 15, 2012
Location
Montrose, CO
I have a friend with a machine that has an automatic grease system. The machine is about three years old and is used daily. Several of the grease lines have recently become plugged, and trying to introduce any new grease will just rupture the lines.

The lines have been replaced already with no luck......so it must be stopped up at it's final destination.

I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas about how to unclog these things.

I have a modified grease gun that was modded to dispense oil, and I'm considering removing the plastic lines and using this to attempt to pump some solvent into the grease points to loosen things up.

I'll have to speak with the grease manufacturer to find a compatible solvent so I don't make things worse.

Obviously I'll have to then flush out all the solvent after I'm done......assuming it even works.

Any thoughts on this idea?

Any other ideas?

Its really not an option to the owner to disassemble this machine in attempt to clean by hand, but he can't continue to run this way either.

Mike
 
I would think a small mix of break clean - or diesel maybe - non flamible is better :) , I think I would try running it thru the line and sitting for a few hours - or even better if there's a small piece of line somewhere easy to change try it there first . Here's one plus to having an older machine with copper lines huh- Jess
 
My Okuma MCV had a couple grease lines that were clogged up. They were like that when I got it, and at first I thought they were a little stiff or full. After a couple times trying to grease these lines I decided to take a look at what was going on. The grease must have sat in the lines for a little while between the time the machine was built and the time I got it and got thicker. Also the two lines that clogged were really long. The lines were 8mm x 2mm wall which is a odd size and I couldn't find it except through the dealer. Everyone assured me that 8mm x 1mm wall tubing would be fine. So we take the time to R & R the line and when we were priming the line the grease got almost to the end of the line and it burst near the fitting. I ended up going through the OEM to get the line at something like 10 bucks a foot, I needed 50 ft. :) The longest line was for the toolchanger and we relocated the fitting so we wouldn't have this problem again. Couldn't re-locate the other line though but so far so good.

Good luck!
 








 
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