I was playing with my yoyo today. I’m practicing how to do basic binds. All along, my 10-ball C sized bearing is pretty quiet except for a faint relatively high pitched whirring of the balls inside. I played around with a trapeze mount and dropped the string on my NTH as if it were a bind. Consequently, I got a knot and fixed it without having to unscrew my yoyo. The subsequent throws I made suddenly had TONS of noise. It’s a night and day difference.
I just got this yoyo three days ago. The bearing supposedly comes off the box cleaned. I didn’t trust the cleaning because the yoyo was a bit responsive. So, I cleaned it and it delivered minimal difference. I clean bearings using denatured alcohol in a glass jar, spin it out for a bit, then use a hair dryer, then spin it again. I did not apply lube this time. It is a naked/deshielded unlubed 10-ball C sized bearing.
I know that lube will reduce the noise but I would be grateful if someone can tell me why this happened. I also do not mind the noise but I am scared that I did something bad/wrong for the bearing/yoyo that caused this. Is this what happens when debris or other substances get into the bearing’s innards?
EDIT: The bearing still plays the same as before except for the noise. No added vibration, no added/reduced responsiveness, no imbalance, no slowness.
EDIT2: I do not play my yoyo in dirt or any environment where things can slip through and get in the bearings. I play on tiled/vinyl/wooden/concrete floor. If necessary, I am using a Kitty String Slim.
Even if you’re just playing over tiled flooring, dust and other airborne stuff can still sneak into the bearing, especially if unshielded. Your two options at this point would be to either play on with the noise or apply just a teeny tiny pin drop of lube.
Happens all the time. 3 out of 5 new yoyos over the weekend suddenly went loud like that. The only thing I ever think is, “Sudden high risk of responsiveness… play carefully, Greg!”
1 out of 3 played identical… the other 2 were indeed responsive.
They’ve since been cleaned and lightly lubed. I’m not a fan of “playing through” it. I just clean.
Good! I was worried that I killed my bearing. I suppose I’ll just clean which should not be a problem for me. I’ll add lube too just like the others have suggested. This yo-yo may be cheap and not cool like the ones I see on BST but I love this one a lot.
I guess I am lucky mine played identical save for the added noise.
Thanks for everyone else’s inputs I’ll keep them in mind. ;D