Grease Fittings , not Zerk

Tom in SW VA

Tom in SW VA

Well-known member
I understand that there two basic grease fittings. The type used primarily today is the Zerk, developed in 1929. The older, other type, is the type used on my Model As. I am looking for the older-type grease gun fitting attachment for my grease gun. Where can I find this non-Zerk type attachment?

Hope you can help. :)
 
The original style Model A grease fittings were earlier style Zerk. Google the history of Oscar Zerk to find out the history.
 
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If I remember correctly the later style, the ones we now refer to as “ Zerk”, are not associated with Mr. Zerk at all but rather with Alemite Company.
 
Jay Jay, Oscar Zerk worked for Alemite. He was a typical engineer, good at inventing things but not good at running a business. Over 300 patents.
 
My A&P school Airframe instructor (who was in his 70s back in '77) called them "Alemite Fittings". The Powerplant instructor called them Zerk Fittings...which was confusing to me (my Dad called them "Zerks"). I didn't learn until much later why they were named, etc.

The Alemite company calls them Zerk fittings on their website. Nice.
 
katy said:
Did the original style grease fittings have a "check valve" in them?
Click to expand...

Yes, some did.

Les Andrews says (in the Red Book, page 3-2) that the screw-in type original-style grease fittings (except for the brass water pump rear grease fitting) had a little check ball in them, to prevent the grease from being pushed back out. That would be like the ones in the attached patent drawings (by Oscar Zerk). They are used in a bunch of places on a Model A.

Les says the press-in type original-style grease fittings all have a direct through grease passage. So the modern-style press-in type grease fitting has an advantage here, with the check ball in it.

Source of images:
https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/5f/19/a6/bdab4db5fc6141/US1619455-drawings-page-1.png
https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/1a/f2/31/a73826c7e3d3bf/US1619454-drawings-page-1.png
 

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If you have a press in fitting with a check ball it is possible to pump the fitting right out of it's hole.
 
Trapdoor2 said:
My A&P school Airframe instructor (who was in his 70s back in '77) called them "Alemite Fittings". The Powerplant instructor called them Zerk Fittings...which was confusing to me (my Dad called them "Zerks"). I didn't learn until much later why they were named, etc.

The Alemite company calls them Zerk fittings on their website. Nice.
Click to expand...

Commonly understood as "alemite" referred to the Model A fittings embodying a "cone" for centering of the grease gun. They require hand pressure to hold the gun against the cone and create a seal.

Commonly understood as "Zerk" referred to the largely aftermarket more general fittings which have a "ball" for the centering AND RETENTION of the grease gun. The gun's pressure tends to hold the ball and grease gun together.

This latter aspect with friction retained insert type Zerks can result in the Zerk pulling out and following the gun on its removal.

A good technique to avoid this is to "tilt" the grease gun off the ball thus relieving the pressure and releasing the gun. A rag is used to clean the zerk and prepare it for the next application lest it attract dirt which can get pushed into the bearing.

1950s era GE Steam Turbines had a very nice governor setup which was largely external and manually greased with a Zerk gun.

greasing-steam-engine-260nw-1330278332.jpg


Joe K
 
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I use this type of grease coupler on my grease gun. It locks onto the fitting (modern Zerk) and released when you pull the trigger.

55118390845_fec9216533.jpg


I use Zerk covers to keep the Zerk clean for next time.

55118390505_3eb1c0bfd8_m.jpg
 
Y-Blockhead said:
Joe, do you remember what those oilers were called (the box on the top)? We something similar on our Steam Driven Reciprocating Pumps.
Click to expand...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_lubricator

MANY different brands of these. "Manzel" was one popular brand. One of these mechanical type came with my steam engine (4x5 "Sears Roebuck) but I preferred a displacement type in "Lunkenheimer Junior" pattern.

Back to the power plant of my familiarity. Salem Harbor Station in Salem Massachusetts.

I marvel at how plants of this post WWII era were built. They were "composite" construction where the standard of construction was "longevity."

Salem burned coal until the EPA sort of undid that. The original two units were 60MW each later upgraded to 75MW. "Built like brick sh*t houses" was how my father (The Startup Engineer) termed them.

Below a picture of those first two units.

q=tbn:ANd9GcTNAOAhZlPyMWXHtS_9rWTpqUVmRf2g8dCM7g&s.jpg


Today that power plant has been LEVELED and replaced with a combined cycle unit with about 2x the thermal efficiency - and 1/3rd the emissions.

It is AMAZING both the human ingenuity AND the motivation to capitalize on that ingenuity.
And all seen within the span of a single lifetime.

Joe K
 
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I got used to using needle fittings on the helicopters and they work on the model A cone type fittings. Many are still standard Alemite types but quite a few were needle types so they could fit into tight places like rotating shafts. Some shafts even have pressure relief fittings so that grease could be purged.

A fellow on the model T side has some old bayonet type fittings that Alemite manufactured back in the 20s & 30s but they were kind of big. A person also had to have the twist on dust covers and the gun that was made to fit them.
 
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