I had mentioned in another thread how the Dove and it’s so smooth and quiet but I wish it would spin longer. But I was always a bit scared to swap in a new bearing to see if that increased spin time because I didn’t want anything else to change about it.
I had bought a Yoyorecreation DS Bearing by NSK a bit ago after hearing so many good things, but never tried it out. So I finally decided the other day to put it in my Dove. Worst decision ever. I was super careful about opening it up and putting it back together and making sure the bearing was seated properly etc. But when I tried it out, it was super vibey and pretty loud. I tried removing it and flipping it over and making sure I carefully put it back together again. No change. It was terrible, and no longer felt like the Dove I knew and loved. So I decided to swap back the original bearing. While swapping back, I spun each bearing by hand while seated on one side of the yoyo held still, and I noticed that the DS bearing felt very vibey even just spinning on a stationary yoyo half. It felt almost like the balls had play side to side and front to back. That wasn’t true for the original bearing.
None of this would be so bad if it weren’t for the fact that my fears came true. Even after swapping back to the original, there was some newfound vibe. Not nearly as bad as with the DS bearing, but very noticable. Not sure why. I have a few yoyo’s that I never take apart, and a few that have been taken apart multiple times. I’ve never had issues with vibe on either. Yet I do with the one I worried that would happen to. The only thing I can think is that the bearing seat is super tight in this yoyo. So maybe something got screwy pulling it out. But I was really careful to pull it straight up. Instead of using a tool that fits into the middle of the bearing to rock back and forth, I used pliers with rubber for grip and protection between them and the bearing, and pulled straight up.
Anything I can try besides buy a new Dove? And did I just unluckily get a dud bearing? Now I’m going to be afraid to open up yoyo’s that I really love when it gets to the point that I need to clean their bearings. I’ve only tried a couple of other non-stock bearings, but this is the first that I was very unhappy with.
Did you try lubing the bearings? After opening a yoyo i usually re-apply a tiny bit of lube. I feel like opening leads to the bearing drying faster which leads to noise and possibly some vibe, and a lubed bearing is usually smooth and quiet.
DS are really good bearings, but who knows how long it sat in a warehouse then in a storeroom, then in your closet or whatever. Dust, moisture, lube breakdown, etc. Open it up, clean it, lube it, and it should be fine.
As for the vibe, it’s entirely possible that when YoyoFriends mounted the bearing (before boxing it up for sale) there was some marring or other minor, imperceptible damage to the post. That’s one of the problems with having a too tight fit: aluminum hub vs stainless steel bearing, steel wins every time.
I’ve got a gold concave and a platinum DS and both are smooth, quiet, and spin longer than most other bearings. I don’t think it should be vibrating. If cleaning and lube don’t fix it, I’d contact the store where you bought it from and see if you can exchange it.
Can you inspect the inserts? Do they look flush to the surface of the yo-yo? Send pics.
Maybe upon pulling the bearing up and off, the insert became slightly dislodged. Maybe too, you can press it/them back in.
DS is not your problem. Likely just needs a good cleaning. Some are fussier than others to get completely clean and multiple soakings are required. Soak 10-20min, spin it out, soak, spin it out. I use an acetone bath and run them dry.
You might be missing the point a bit. I was being a bit tongue in cheek with my subject. Yes, maybe the DS came dirty from the factory and needs cleaning like others said.
But the vibe now exists regardless of what bearing is used.
I’ll definitely try cleaning and lubing but if it’s bad I think the ship has sailed on an exchange. I purchased it here on YYE, but it was a while ago at this point during a 15% off sale. Just hadn’t tried it until now. They also don’t seem to have any stock regardless.
I don’t think it would have been done by yoyofriends because it wasn’t vibey until OP changed the bearing. But I do agree that bearing post damage can cause vibe.
I don’t like the one NSK DS bearing I have because it’s too tight on like every Yoyo I tried it with.
Right, but it was YoyoFriends who put the tight bearing on, thereby (possibly) marring the post. When anyone would have removed the bearing for regular maintenance, that material that was previously wedged between the post and the bearing will come off, leaving a void and (possibly) causing the vibe.
NSK is a company that makes bearings (and other stuff). DS is the shape of a bearing. NSK makes DS bearings, they also makes flats/center tracs/concaves.
NSK is not the only company that makes DS bearings, if the bearing didn’t explicitly state on the packaging or store listing that it was an NSK produced bearing, then it probably wasn’t produced by NSK.
Just felt like adding this because it feels like people really ignore this point a lot, but I think that also just goes to say how much of the bearing experience is placebo/minimal.
DS stands for Double Straight. Don’t think anyone else has DS and not sure it refers to the shape. My thinking was something to do with the internal race of the bearing. Not 100% on that though.
DS refers to the shape, and you can buy then in bulk from chinese sites for a fraction of the price. Yoyorecreation sells DS bearings produced by a different company as “economy” DS bearings, and those non-NSK DS bearings are what ship in YYRs now.
Yeah, DS is “double straight” for the profile. Two flat surfaces on each side, similar to the Pixel’s four on each side. I have seen a few different companies making them. NSK is supposedly the higher tier tho.
Regarding Yoyorec, some of their yoyos ship with economy bearings, but others are the higher quality/grade. They specify economy in the description in those cases. At least, that’s what I got out of it. If anyone actually got official confirmation either way I’d be interested in hearing it.
So back on topic… @faceplant, if there is permanent damage to the bearing post you could try some temporary fixes. Teflon tape, gasket compound, or even JB Weld for something more permanent. It’s not perfect, but it could help.
my personal experience in years and years of yoyoing is that bearings almost never live up to a stated standard of quality, and its pretty much RNG if you get a good one, bad one, etc. (its not really RNG, its he shape, fit and quality of the ball cage but this is outside the maintenance capabilities of most yoyoers so i list it as RNG)
Ive had proper NSK bearings work amazing and then completely destroy themselves. I’ve had MYY generic 8balls be perfectly smooth for years (the opposite of this statement is also true)
My best advice is to get middle of the road bearings like CTs or Hollywood bearings and use those, since you will be meeting the best compromise between performance and cost.
Edit regarding the Dove vibe: plastic yoyos are very sensible to bearing tolerances and tightness tolerances. Since both of those bearings had different tolerances, the tightness tolerance will also change, and that can cause vibe. Im sure that if the innards of your Dove arent majorly scratched (like vissible wear and damage) you can still tune it to smoothness with different fitting bearings and trying different tightness when you put it together. plastic yoyos are specially sensible to this. I do remember NSK bearings having a slightly tighter fit than other bearings. Try a looser fitting bearing and see how it goes. Also make sure to clean the bearing post to remove any gunk thats there that usually builds up from metal to metal friction and contact, which can cause a bad bearing to post fit and contribute to slight vibe.
a quick PSA: i would advice OP against using any of those methods on their bearing post. Its not recommended to add any substance or material to your bearing post that can flake under the friction created by your bearing and its post. Threadlocker or any similar substance will most likely just flake and contaminate your response area, locking your bearing etc.
Teflon tape wont cause this BUT ive never had much success when ive tried it before, but you can at least try it without worrying about it risking damaging your bearing.
