Okay, so I just bought 3 bearings and ALL 3 OF THEM have this issue. Now, this isn’t a specific problem about these certain bearings because I’ve had it happen to all kinds of bearings. I’ll try to describe it as best I can.
Basically, the bearing will spin smooth at low RPM’s, but if I, for example, try to flick it with force so that it may spin faster, it vibrates for a half second or so and then abruptly slows back down so that it doesn’t vibrate anymore. This condition inhibits the bearing, and thus, the yoyo, from spinning efficiently at higher RPM’s.
I don’t know why the bearing does this, because if I did, I probably would’ve encountered or come up with a fix already. I don’t know how these bearings’ structures differ from regular, smooth-spinning bearings, what flaws they have in them, but this is really starting to annoy me especially after the purchase of 3 of the same new bearings and discovering that they all suffer from the same problem.
What really confuses me is that I can’t find any threads about this problem either. I find it very hard to believe that nobody else has encountered this before.
I know they aren’t. The bearing plays pretty horribly, though, so that is when I opened up the throw and spun the bearing a bit. It plays responsive, loud, and randomly snags mid-trick. I know that a flick test is hardly anything to go off of, but any decent bearing should be able to keep it’s speed for a fair amount of time. In this case, it will only keep it’s speed at lower RPM’s. I’ll see if I can get a video with the sound. Basically it will sound two different ways during the same spin:
Vibrating, loud during the first half-second or so. Coupled with dramatically slowing down the bearing
Regular, smoother during the rest of the spin, pretty low RPM
They might be crappy bearings or just dead. Or you need to clean them. Need more information. If you try other bearings in the same yoyo do you encounter this problem? If not, then I’d try cleaning the bad bearings maybe once and if that doesn’t fix it just toss them. Bearings go bad for a variety of complex reasons. Sometimes rapidly.
They are literally brand new, just out of the bag, and haven’t been deshielded except for one that I inspected carefully. I don’t see how I got three that all have the same issue though.
What brand/type are the bearings? Maybe they are just trash bearings. Hard to say without knowing this crucial bit of info.
I’m not sure I fully understand your description of the problem in the OP. You flick the bearings and they vibrate? Do you mean like if you throw the yoyo at high rpm the yoyo shakes and then starts spinning slowly?
And have you tried these bearings in a different yoyo? To be sure it’s a bearing issue make sure the issue isn’t replicated in other yoyos. There could be a problem with the particular yoyo (gunk on the bearing seat, bad axle, loose response pad, etc.) so make sure to rule that out.
Every single CenterTrak bearing I’ve tried has had this problem. They play alright in the yoyo, but don’t spin well when spun on a paintbrush. It unfortunately sounds like you may have gotten some lower-quality bearings.
Yes, I’ve tried these in every throw I have. The yoyo itself doesn’t vibrate much, but I can feel the bearing vibrating from the string, and if I throw hard and get it spinning fast, it will become responsive. After a while it slows down and becomes unresponsive. So basically, my bearings are unable to spin fast and stay unresponsive at the same time, which, honestly, seems pretty lame.
They are Terrapins. I refrained from mentioning them since he has a good reputation and I don’t like to seem like I’m targeting an individual or company, but really, this is a problem I’ve experienced at least once with most other kinds of bearings, so I wouldn’t say that it is just Terrapins.
Well, no offense but if every bearing you’ve tried does this, my feeling is that your expectations or perception are out of whack. I find it hard to believe that all of your bearings are messed up in the same manner.
Maybe you should contact mr. terrapin. I hear his customer service is great.
Sorry, not every bearing. I meant to say that, of the many different types of bearings I’ve had and tried, several of them had this issue. Perhaps my wording wasn’t suitable for the situation I was trying to describe.
It’s certainly not something that affects all of my bearings. I do own some wonderful bearings, too. I just thought it was weird that there weren’t any other threads that seemed to pertain to the same issue and if anyone had a fix or explanation at the very least.
Ha, that’s funny. When I bought a Terrapin X for $30 I was expecting incredible performance but it arrived in garbage condition. Worst performing bearing I had at the time, out of 15 or so. It was similar to how you describe yours. After cleaning it in acetone it started working somewhat better but is still pretty mediocre.
Terrapin bearings are overrated BECAUSE the seller has a good reputation on the forums. He trolls posts here looking for mention of his bearings in order to pimp them and insult anyone who doesn’t buy the propaganda. I wouldn’t be surprised if he showed up in this thread shortly.
Anyway…are they ceramics? If so you need to run them dry and clean. And I wouldn’t mess with his dry lube. I could never get that to work. It just made the bearing perform much worse even with small amounts.
One thing I will say for the seller is he has good customer service. If you bought directly from him he will likely let you return them. Or just describe the problem you’re having to him and maybe he can fix it.
I will repair or replace any Terrapin X bearing. Please PM me for information
I have had very few problems with them, this seems unusual and I would like to check them out.
On a further note. no Terrapin X bearing cost $30…
Umm, mine did. This was several months ago but I have the Paypal statement to prove it. It does look like you recently dropped the prices, but I did spend $30 on your super hyped Ceramic X Wing bearing only to see it outperformed by $14 bearings.
I said I bought a Terrapin X for $30, not that that’s what you’re currently charging. I guess you had to drop the price since the hype wears down eventually.
Hmm… I checked again and you’re actually right. My apologies for the disinformation. They were $25 at the time, not $30.
What happened is my Paypal statement for that purchase said $30 but I checked the ebay order confirmation and it showed the $25 bearing purchase + $5 for a “donation” for a total of $30. I have no idea what I donated. I usually don’t do that. Bizarre. ???