So there’s a lot frequently asked yoyo questions. And now that I g=have a few years of yoyo experience under my belt I would like to help out some of the beginners out there in the yoyo community by answering some of those questions.
Here’s how this is gonna work you guy’s can post a question in the comments below and I will do my best to answer it.
[b]Heads Up I can’t Edit Anymore Questions Into the OP Because it is Over The Max Length of 20000 Characters So Any Further Questions Will be Answered In The Comments Below
Thanks
Erik[/b]
1.How To Change Response Pads.
You know your response pads are getting worn down when they start to look like this
The pic is kinda out of focus but as you can see the inner edge of the pad is sinking below the edge of the bearing seat.
So to change it you need to slip something under the outer edge of the pad like so
And then work it all the way around untill the pad is loose then just pull it out.
If theres some extra gunk inside the pad resses just scrape it out. Then just peel the paper backing off of the new pad and set it in the pad recess. Then start pushing it down and working your fingers around
As for getting the right pad for the right yoyo if its a YYJ yoyo then go to the YYJ page and click response if its a YYF yoyo go to the YYF page etc.
2.What Does Lube Do To My Bearing?
Thin lube is for unresponsive play. and thick lube is for looping/responsive play. If your bearing is making noise or becomeing responsive just adding lube probably wont cut it. Adding more lube will just make the bearing even more responsive. The best thing to do is totally clean the bearing. And then add a tiny drop of lube.
3.How To Clean A bearing?
Before you can effectivly clean a bearing you will need to de-shield it first.(I de shilded all my bearings along time ago so I cant really show pics of the entire procces)
Here’s a video I found that explains de- shielding and cleaning a bearing
Heres what you will need
Acetone Or Mineral Spirits(Paint thinner)
A paper clip, needle or safety pin
Thin or thick bearing lube (Depending on if your doing responsive or unresponsive style play)
A blow off duster can (Optional)
A pen or Pencil.
A napkin
A film canister or some other container that is made of sturdy plastic(if the plastic isn’t sturdy enough the acetone/paint thinner will eat right through it)
Fill the container with about a 1/2 inch of mineral spirits/acetone (I prefer acetone but either one works)
Then put the bearing in the container and let it soak for 2-5 minutes shaking occasionally.
Then remove the bearing
Lay the bearing on the napkin and let the mineral spirits/acetone drain out.
Then put the bearing on the tip of the pencil/pen and spin it/dry it with the blow duster to remove the remainind liquid.
Then set the bearing back on the napkin and put a tiny drop of lube on the paper clip
And then touch it to the inside of the bearing. spin it on the pen a few more times to work the lube in a little bit. Then put the bearing back in the yoyo. The yoyo will play a little bit responsive but keep throwing it and it will become unresponsive once the lube works in.
PS
Don’t pour paint thinner down your drain just leave it in the container until it evaporates.
3.5 Cleaning Exotic Bearings
I have no personal expiriance with these but if your cleaning a gold bearing I’ve heard soaking it in ourified water is the best because if you use a solvent it will take the gold off.
For ceramic bearings cleaning is the same but they do not need lube. If you want to add lube you can it will make them a little quite’er but it is not necesary.
4.Flat Or Grooved Bearings?
Flat bearings work great as long as you have a good solid throw the yoyo wont tilt at all. Grooved bearings do provide slightly longer spin times because they keep the string from rubbing on the sides of the yoyo. Making it so there is a little less friction thus making the yoyo spin longer.
In my experience (this is just my opinion) grooved bearings seem to be louder than flat bearings. One of the grooved bearings I really like is the ‘Trifecta’ because it is konkaved grooved and it has 10 balls so it is just as quite ad a flat bearing and it plays really smooth. But it really all boils down to this.
You can save a little money and just use a standard flat bearing or you can spend a little extra and get a bearing that will give you slightly longer spin times and will decrees the chances of your yoyo tilting during long tricks. The choice is up too you.
PS
Grooved bearings do not replace practice so if you don’t have a solid throw down I would recomend practicing with a flat bearing before moveing onto a grooved bearing. Because if your realying on the grooved bearing to keep the yoyo from tilting then if you ever end up throwing a yoyo with a flat bearing you wont be able to yoyo very good. So practice on a flat bearing and get that solid and then move on to a grooved bearing.
5.I’m New To Yoyoing Should I Get A Responsive Or Unresponsive Yoyo?
Well if your a complete beginner to yoyoing you should definatly go for a responsive yoyo because with that you can work on getting your throw solid and you can learn the basics.
But if you already have some expierience and you have a good throw down and if you know how to do a bind then you would probably be ok getting an unresponsive.
6. What Kind Of Yoyo String Should I get?
There is no best kind of string out there everyone is different and every one likes different types of string. If your new to yoyoing you should probably just buy some bulk polyester string. Because when your just learning the basics string really doesn’t make that much of a difference. But as you get more advanced you may want to try some different kinds of strings like nylon or a nylon/poly blend. But like I said there is no best string so if you want to try different kinds of string I would recommend selecting a few brands your interested in and buy a 10 pack of each and then choose the one you like best.
7.How Do I Get Sponsored?
Asking to get sponsored is the worst thing you could ever do if you want to get sponsored you should attend contests make cool tricks and if you can become friends with someone on the team because may be they’ll put in a good word for you. Don’t make it too obvious that you want to be sponspred just be part of the community attend clubs contests etc. Just so they know your out there. If they really want you on there team they’ll ask them. But until then just play it cool and have fun. \
Yoyoing shouldn’t be all about getting sponsored it should be about having fun making new friends and having fun (did I forget to mention having fun? :D) If you get sponsored great. But IMO it shouldn’t be your main focus.
But if you really want to get sponsored Don’t ask for it .
8.What Kind Of String Should I use For Looping?
I use a type 6 cotton poly mix
The cotton makes it slightly more responsive while the poly keeps it lasting longer.
Some people like using type 8 for looping. Which makes it even more responsive so you can really control those loops.
9.My Bearings Stuck I’ve Tried Everything And It Wont Come Out. Help!
Try using a bearing removal tool and jiggling it out if that doesn’t work try gently grabing it with a pair of pliers and see if you can get it to come out. If it still remains stuck try sticking the yoyo in the freezer for 10-15 mins. I know that sounds weird but what happens is the aluminum contracts faster than the stainless steal which makes the bearing seat slightly smaller which loosens the bearing. This will not harm your yoyo at all once you remove it from the freezer and it warms back up it will expand back to its normal size.
That should work but if it doesn’t then that’s the tightest bearing I’ve ever seen. 
Good Luck.
10.Everytime I Throw My Yoyo Tips And Spins Out Whats Wrong?
If your yoyo starts to tilt when you throw it is probably because you don’t have a good enough throw down. Make sure your keeping your hand as level as possible when you throw so the yoyo stays balanced because if your hand is tilted just a little bit thats what makes it tilt. Andre (The guy that owns yoyoexpert) has a good video in the learn section on how to get a good throw so if your still having problems go check that video out.
But the main thing is is just keeping that hand steady and getting a nice strong throw. And getting frustrated just makes it worse so just keep working at it and one day it will all make sense.
11.My Yoyo Is Eating Strings What Should I do?
Eating strings is usualy caused by a sharp/rough edge around the response area. This can be caused by a scratch or chip. The best way to fix that is to order some really fine sand paper like 6000-8000 grit and sand down that area and make it nice and smooth. That should solve your problem.
BTW I have no personal experience with this issue this is just based on what I’ve seen other people do.
12.Whats The Best Yoyo?
There is no best yoyo if your looking to buy a new yoyo and you don’t know which one to get then pic a few that you think look really cool and then compare the spec’s with yoyo’s you’ve liked in the past and then decide if its the best for you.
But remember there is no best yoyo everyone is different so pic the one you like the best. And if you don’t like it you can always trade it to someone who does.
13.Whats The Best Bearing?
So with most of these questions you’ll get a billion different opinions because everyone is different so everything I say on this topic is my own opinion. Just thought I should say that before I started so…
If your looking for a cheap smooth bearing you cant really beat a 10 ball those things are so smooth and they only cost around $10. But if you want a bearing that’s a little fancier for a couple bucks more I would recommend the ‘Trifecta’ its it has 10 balls its konkaved and its grooved so you’ll get longer spin times because the string wont be rubbing on the sides of the yoyo.
If you want to pay even more you can get a gold bearing. With those you will get crazy long pin times and they look really cool.
Another option is a ceramic bearing these will also give you crazy long spin times and they don’t require lube (but you can lube them if you want). These bearings are a little spendy. Its up to you to decide if you think its worth it or not. Like I said everyone will have a different opinion on this.
14. How Do I Remove Side Effects (SE’s) From My Yoyo?
Well its really hard (No its not :D)
All you have to do is have the yoyo unscrewed
And then gently press down on the side effect.
And then it will just come out.
Same thing to put them back in that rubber O ring keeps them nice and snug.
PS
(This is optional IMO) You can put a tin y bit of lube on the side of the SE’s so there easier to take in and out.
15.Which yoyo’s can take flowable silicone?
I have no personal experience with this because I always use silicone pads but this is what I’ve heard.
Any yoyo can take flowable silicone its just some types of yoyo’s are easier to work with then others. All you have to do is sqwwze the flowable silicone into the pad recess when you have it filled up scrape off the excess with something so its flat and then let it dry over night.
If your having problebs getting the silicone to stick inside the groove I’ve heard you can take something sharp and scratch up the surface inside the pad recess and that will make the silicone stick better.
I found this video that explains the whole process.
16.What Do I Do When The Bearing Spacers Are Stuck To The Side Of My Bearing?
As you can see here both the bearing spacers have been pulled out of the sides of the yoyo and are stuck to the sides of the bearing.
Here’s how I got mine unstuck I’m sure there are multiple different ways to do this but I’m going to show you the way I did it.
Grab the bearing with a pliers
And then take the side of the yoyo that has the axle in it and stick that into the hole in the side of the bearing spacer.
And then start to jiggle the axle back and forth until the spacer is worked loose. Once you have one spacer off remove the other one like so.
The picture is a little blurry but as you can see I’ve taken a YYF bearing removal toll and stuk it in the side of the bearing where the 1st spacer was. Jiggle the YYF multe tool back and forth until that other spacer is worked loose.
And then your done.
If you want to prevent this from happening again follow these steps.
Take a small file and file evenly all the way around the inner circle of the bearing spacer untill it fits nicely inside the bearing don’t make it to lose just do it until it fits nice and snug but doesn’t get stuck onto the bearing.
When your done just press the bearing spacers back into the sides of the yoyo and put it all back together.
If you need a better explanation Charles Haycock talks about removeing spacers and stuff in thes video.
Heres another vid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INyRFN49_qc
17. I Just Learned This Trick What Should I learn Next?
Well YYE has a very nice learn section that you can check out. All of the tricks are in order of easiest to hardest. So if you just learned the trick trapeze for example. SCroll down the list in the learn section until you find trapeze and then learn the trick after that. Once you’ve mastered most if not all of the tricks here on YYE you can always go to other sites like youtube, Rethinkyoyo, BillyBobs etc and learn the tricks on those sites.
18. When Should I Change My String?
You want to change your string when it starts to looked frayed and dirty and it really doesn’t look as nice as it used to
19. What’s The Best Yoyo Company?
Well There’s really no ‘best’ company different companeys have different yoyoy’s so you just have too look around and find out which company you like the best. For example.
I really like high end mettle’s so I like CLYW and One Drop and Yoyofactory and stuff like that. But if you really like hybrids then Yoyojam is good.
Its all preference really you just have to find the company you like the best.
20. Whats The Hardest Trick?
There really isn’t a hardest trick. Different tricks are hard for different reasons. Like Kwijibo is hard because of all the hopping and popping. Ladder Escape is hard because of all the technical string movements.
All tricks are hard in there own way.
21.How To Remove Caps From Most Yoyojam Yoyo’s
I’ve already removed the caps from mine so I cant show you myself but here’s Andre’s Maintenance video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nBJyvgp68s
Hope That Helps
22. How To Remove The Axle From A Yoyo When You Can’t get to the Alan Key Hole
So sometimes when your trying to remove the axle from a yoyo the side with the alan key hole on it is the side you can get too. Try to avoid this scenario if you can but if it doe’s happen here’s a couple things yoi can do.
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If the axle is loose enough you could just grab it with your fingers and twist it out if the axle is too tight for that try step 2
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You can try grabbing the axle with a pliers and turning it but be careful not to strip the threads if you do strip the threads don’t worry you can buy replacement axles for most yoyo’s here at YYE.
I don’t see what else you could do besides those 2 things. If you have a solution of your own post it below and I’ll add it to this section.
23. What Can I do If I Strip The Axle On My Yoyo?.
If you strip the axle on your yoyo you can just take it out and buy a new axle here at YYE. Yoyo expert has axles for most yoyo’s but if you can’t find one here. You can always check another online yoyo store. If you end up stripping the threads inside the yoyo itself your only option is to get it re-tapped.
If your using a yoyo where the axle can’t bee removed you don’t have much of a choice other then buying a new yoyo. Its sad but it happens.
Luckily most high end mettle’s have replaceable axles the only 2 yoyo’s I’ve seen that don’t are the YYF Norhtstar and the YYF Protostar.
How Do Yoyo Shapes Effect How The Yoyo plays?
H shaped yoyo’s are very stable because they have a lot of weight right on the rims which give’s you longer spin times and faster play.
V shaped is kinda like an in between H and O it still gets long spin times because it has weight on the rim. But it also has some weight distrubeted through out the rest of the yoyo.
O shape’s distribute the weight throughout the gsp of the yoyo so there’s not a whole lot on the rims. So they usually play more floaty.
I know I didn’t do that great of a job explaining this but if any of you guy’s have anything you would like to add feel free to post it below.
Want a specific question answered? post a comment below.