So I have made bulk purchases in the past and I’m finding that when I reach for a bearing, I’m lucky if 1 in 5 are of them are good. Is this normal? What do you all do with your brand new bearings that are duds? Do you return them? I don’t feel that is proper in my scenario, some of these purchases were made over a year ago. Like last bulk purchase of bearings I bought 10 Pixel Bearings. So far, 3 of them are duds and just do not spin well no matter how many times I clean them. But damn, when they work, they work really well. So what say you, do you just throw them away? How many times do you clean them before call it a lost cause? The going rate is about $12 per bearing, that’s a lot of money to just hope ya get some good ones.
And just an FYI, this doesn’t just happen with my Pixel’s, it happens with all the bearings I’ve bought, it just seems to happen more with Pixel’s. It’s frustrating to say the least.
I add a small amount of thin lube to a bearing when it’s new. Seems to help it break in. I’m pretty happy with my results. I also soak the unused ones in 100% acetone until I’m ready to play them.
I feel this happens with every new bearing I’ve received in the last couple of years. When it happens after the first few throws, I do my treatment; remove shields, blow out with compressed air, and add 1/2 a drop at most of Bones Speed Cream. Install in Yo-Yo and do a lot of Gyroscopic flops, Regens and pin wheels, basically break them in, then they are nice and quiet for months too years at a time. I defiantly also prefer 10 balls over 8 these day I noticed that the other day.
When you say you soak them until you’re ready to play them, do you mean you store the bulk bearings in a jar of acetone full time? Or just as a prep stage before throwing them into a yoyo?
I store bearings that are clean and function well in a container. I just soak in acetone with new bearings and bearings I clean. I’ve had some bearings that end up in the acetone a little bit longer, but they seem to turn out OK. For example, a bearing ends up a little gritty, I soak it in acetone for a day and play it again, and sometimes it ends up right back into the acetone. For the most part, the bearings seem to work their way into halfway decent. I lube most of my bearings to control noise, that’s just my preference.
The only time I’ve had a bad time doing this was when it wasn’t 100% acetone. The bearings started to rust with the diluted stuff, as it’s diluted with water. Acetone isn’t reactive with steel though. That’s why it’s great for cleaning and degreasing.
For long term storage, spray with wd40 and put them in a sealed bag. Clean before using rather than before putting into storage (unless you dropped you’re yoyo mud / saltwater, then do both).
Cages aren’t always stainless and can react with humid air. Alcohol and acetone aren’t always as pure as you’d expect, if there’s water in your oil at least you can see.
Pretty much random how long a bearing can last, as long as you don’t deform or crush them. I have some 608s from rollerskates from the 70s that still clean up a treat, and then some purchased last year that didn’t last a month in my son’s scooter.
I have about 100 bearings in a big glass container filled with 99.99% isopropyl alcohol. It’s like the red lobster fish tank for bearings. When I need a new one I pluck it out from the tank with a magnetic rod.
I initially cleaned them by putting a magnetic stir bar in and letting them swirl around. Now they live in the tank.
Maybe it’s cause my kids would totally get into that vat and spill it but I can’t do anything if the sort. Also the smell of iso or acetone fir that matter would bother me
These came straight from a factory in china that I contacted and purchased directly from so debris danger is minimal. I wouldn’t do this with pocket lint bearings without cleaning them first.
As far as corrosion goes, they are all steel cages and assuming the alcohol supplier didn’t screw me they won’t corrode. They have been swimming for 6 months ish without signs of trouble so far.
I keep the jar on a high up shelf in my office away from the kiddos.
How do you mean duds? Like don’t spin at all? If I spent 12$ for a bearing and it wasn’t spinning at all, I would definitely want my money back.
If they’re just loud and not immaculately smooth, that seems pretty normal and doesn’t really change how they play, it is annoying though. Usually you can break them in like how exmime described above. OD bearings come crunchy and often need to be broken in via gyro flops etc.. If they are coated like the nsk bearings coated in gold or platinum, ime the coating on those flakes off and the bearing needs to be cleaned a ton until you got all flakes off that will flake off.
Knowing what bearings they are exactly would be good to know and im hella curious
Yeah, I was kind of thinking the same thing. The Pixel’s come in individual bags too, so that does help shield from the humidity, dust, etc… I also keep them in another plastic container, I even went so far as to put Teflon tape on the threads of the container to seal it up even better. I guess the moral of the story is, don’t buy bearings in bulk?
I don’t mind loud, of course I would prefer quiet but if they are loud but functional, I’m happy. By dud, I mean the ones that spin when you flick them with your finger but come to a full stop in about 5 seconds, I can’t get them to spin longer than that with the “flick” test. I always clean new bearing unless they obviously don’t need it. But the spin is so bad that they are highly responsive when I use them. I’ve tested to see if it was the yoyo bearing seat vs just putting them on a bearing tool and flicking them with my finger.
Actually since posting this, I gave up on the bearing that prompted me to write up this thread and I found 1 good bearing in 4. I’ve cleaned the others at least 5 times, let them dry, used pressurized air to speed dry and remove any micro-particles. Sometimes I’ve saved bearings by cleaning them many times but I just can’t get these to work like they should. So now the count is 1 out of 4, that’s not a good percentage. I would be okay with 1 out of 10. But so far, this is close to a $40 loss. I’ve never been able to break a bearing in that started out this way, especially after several cleanings, they usually don’t improve at all, they just get worse.
The good majority of them are Pixel bearings, they are by far my favorite when they work.
