Pneumatic pumps

Pneumatic pumps win wherever compressed air is already there and electrics would be expensive or unwanted: in hazardous areas, on machines with no free control outputs, and anywhere a pump has to work only occasionally but then at high pressure. They have no electrical parts in the grease chamber and can be cycled by a simple solenoid valve.

Source: DropsA manufacturer data, retrieved 31 July 2026 – LOCOPUMP S3 · Datenblatt C2255PG · Kartuschenpumpe 3414064 · Serie 3103 · Serie 31030 · AI-P · AB-P · DPP-Reihe. The figures in the respective datasheet are binding.

Five designs for five different jobs

The table looks heterogeneous because it is. LOCOPUMP S3 and the cartridge pump are grease pumps for progressive systems with a 50:1 ratio. The Series 3103 is an oil pump with its own 3-litre reservoir and 68 bar. The AB-P feeds a single point with a comparatively large dose and, at IP 67, is built for rough installation.

The DPP range is technically not a lubrication pump at all: 1:1 double-diaphragm pumps that transfer oil, waste oil, diesel and aggressive media. Their key figure is flow in litres per minute, not displacement — and with ATEX zone 2 they are approved for potentially explosive atmospheres.

On the AB-P the pressure is not fixed but follows the air supply: DropsA states p_fluid = 9.5 × (p_air − 1.2). At 6 bar line air that works out to roughly 46 bar — the 60 bar figure is only reached at correspondingly higher air pressure.

Why “up to NLGI 2” is a real limit

DropsA rates the LOCOPUMP S3 explicitly for grease up to NLGI 2. That is not a recommendation but a system boundary: above NLGI 2 the flow pressure rises far enough that the grease no longer follows the spring-loaded follower plate reliably and the pump draws air. What the consistency classes mean, and why the class alone does not describe pumpability, is covered in our article on NLGI classes.

A displacement of 2 cm³ per stroke makes sizing directly calculable: output follows from displacement times cycle rate, not from a continuous rating. On a system with ten points needing 0.15 cm³ each, one stroke covers more than a full round — here the timing, not the pump size, sets the volume delivered.

The fixed 2 cm³ can be converted with kit 3133390 to 0.5 to 2 cm³ per stroke, adjustable. That matters as soon as the installation is expected to grow: with fixed output the only adjustment is the cycle rate, with the kit it is the stroke as well. Total piston travel is 36.5 mm.

Both reservoirs are transparent and carry a level sensor as standard, so the fill level can be read visually and via the controller. The 0.5 kg version is for tight installations, the 2 kg version for longer refill intervals. Version 3413050C ships pre-filled, which saves the initial fill at commissioning.