Am I correct in saying that if your bearing needs broke in that you could clean it instead and that would give the same affect? Only reply if you are sure about your answer. 
czyoyo
No, breaking it in and cleaning are different and will yield different effects. You can clean an over lubed bearing instead of breaking it in but the bearing will respond differently and need to be lightly lubed.
So, a new bearing I need to break in? ???[b]
A new bearing can be broken in or cleaned. A SPEC bearing comes dry (cleaned) so you dont really need to clean it again, just play with it. But a 10 ball bearing is not cleaned so you can either break it in or clean it. Some people say breaking it in makes the bearing smoother and quieter.
Here is the problem:
I recently got a YYF MVP as a present. I love it and I like it most when it is non responsive.
But, after a day or two it suddenly became responsive and a little loud when I threw it down.
I oiled it with YYJ thin lube and it made it non responsive again for about a day. I have been repeating this process a few days in a row now and I wondered if I was just skipping around the bearing breaking in process. That is where I am and I wondered if this was the case if I should just clean it.
respond quickly,
czyoyo
Before cleaning, I would take it apart and completely remove the bearing.
Check the bearing to make sure there is not gunk on it, then check the bearing seat for the same thing.
If all that checks out, then just throw 20-30 super hard sleepers and let them spin out. In my experience this has resolved any responsiveness issues I have had.
If all that fails, then cleaning should be last.
Yes, take off the c clips with a pin and tap out thevshields. soak in Zippo fluid, for about an hour, occasionaly turning the bearing the get all the stuff out.
dry off with compressed air. Works best if you put it on a tapered stick so it can spin while you blow the stuff out of it, which will also help break it in. I do this twice on each side.
If you want to break it in, either A. replace the bearing dry and do sleepers for 15 to 30 min, or attatch to a drill and let it spin for 5 to 10 min.
Then, put 2 tiny spots of thin oil into the bearing. I use sewing machine oil, but thin lube or trombone oil work just as well. Put 1 in the inside track and one on the outside track. Your may want to just dip a pin in the oil and apply it that way so as to not accidentaly over lube. spin it a couple of times to make sure it spins to you liking. I usually put it back on the tapered stick and spin it again on each side with the canned air to to make sure the lube is even throughout. This give it better spinning off the bat, and help prevent oil overflow which eats your string.
If over lubed, Repeat proccess skipping the break in spinning in part.
Recommend leaving the shields off for future cleaning and avoiding the hassle of taking out the c clips again
I’m sure there are other methods, but this is the one I use, and it works great for me. ;D
why is the post upside down?
What post is upside down? Looks fine to me. ???
your post is at the top and above it is this one ???
Dunno, looks fine here. Must be something with you browser. try restarting it. Did you have any other questions about your bearing?
thanks for the post on bearing cleaning!
does yes mean that by oiling it i am skipping the breaking in process?
if so does it mean that i can clean it instead of just using it to break it in?
thanks
czyoyo
3 different things
Cleaning : breaks down the old oil and gunk so it spins freely. If left like this it will be extremely unresponvive but the metal on metal friction will eventually destroy the bearing. It it also very loud.
Breaking In:
the repeated use of the bearing causing wear and malformation so that the moving parts behave in a more uniform and overall smoother manner. (think of how your shoes break in) This will happen eventually with use but who want to wait ;).
Oiling : Adding oil to the bearing to reduce noise and protect the bearings from friction. Lube increases the responsiveness of a yoyo. Yes all lube. Yes every time. The thinner the lube and the less the quantity used, the less that the responsivness will be increased. Hence thicker lube will create more response than thin lube. More lube creates more response than less lube.
so, to sum up
clean it, break it in, and oil it. Do this to all of your out of the box bearings.
When it starts to get noisy or gummy again, clean it, then oil it.
1 Like
One more thing, are you sure you can leave the c clips off and the shields off and play with it that way? Thanks for everything
czyoyo
Cleaning it and breaking it in are different things entirely. There are thousands of opinions on what you should do to a bearing ‘out-of-the-box’. Some say play, some say clean and play, some say lube and play.
The bearings that come dry don’t really need to be cleaned, but they do need to be broken in. While it’s at a microscopic level, the balls in the bearing need to find there place in the bearing race. It’s difficult to explain, but you’ll get the feel for it eventually.
Don’t let anyone tell you that you have to clean your bearings all the time. It’s just not true. It doesn’t really have a benefit, and it’s just a lot of work for nothing most of the time. I have several bearings that have never seen one drop of lube or a cleaning agent and they still spin just as good if not better than the others.
You can play with the shields off with no problems, but it makes it easier to get gunk in the bearing itself. Its worth it to take the extra seconds to put the clips back on.
what should I do? ???
Definalty
I have them off of all 5 of mine and have had no problems.
just don’t leave the bearing out of the yoyo like that.
dust and stuff will clog it up.
But the bearing seat will protect it while it is in the yoyo, and the balls wont fall out of the bearing unless you go at them with a hammer and screwdriver, so it’s all good. ;D
Well now that your good and confused again, that was my method for my bearings. Tried and true, it works for me without fail. Yes, there’s a thousand different people saying a thousand different things, but this should give you a good foundation of stuff to try and find out what works for you.
thanks,
the one problem is that the bearing keeps becoming responsive, a little loud, and not smooth.
when I put oil on it fixes it for about a day and then this happens again.
why? ???
thanks