I am a complete beginner and got a new yoyofactory arrow elite. It is supposed to be a responsive yoyo, but the yoyo doesn’t come back with a tug. I followed several videos about how to throw properly and the yoyo is definitely spinning. I looked at the video by yo tricks about why the yoyo might not come back but it didn’t help me. The yoyo seems to be doing exactly what he showed with the unresponsive yoyo. The yoyo comes with a wide bearing for making it unresponsive but I did not change the bearing.
Is it possible that I need to lube a brand new yoyo? Can I try anything else? Anything I might have overlooked or am doing wrong?
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It is possible the bearing needs to be lubed. Thick lube is what is recommended for responsive yoyos. I bought a couple of Arrows last fall, they weren’t as snappy to respond as I wanted them, a drop of thick lube resolved the issue.
Now, not knowing anything about you aside from you telling us you are a beginner, I have a couple of questions. Does the yoyo never respond to a tug? Will it respond to a big tug of the hand? Remember, guys like André who have trick tutorials have been yoyoing for years, they make everything look really easy (although throwing a responsive yoyo and having it return should be really easy). Maybe the easiest solution is to add a drop of lube and see if that resolves the lack of response.
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Thank you for your advice. I will definitely buy some lube and try that out.
It never responds to a tug. It just kind of jumps up and down as I tug on the string. If I pull strong enough and the yoyo jumps high enough I can get the string to wrap around the yoyo with some luck in which case the string binds and the yoyo does come up. I hope that explanation makes some sense.
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Your explanation made perfect sense, this is almost exactly what you want from an unresponsive yoyo.
I think a drop of thick lube is the right way to proceed.
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Welcome to the Forums. We’re all buddies here and now you’re one too! Please post a pic of the gap in the yoyo. It sounds like there is a wide bearing in the yoyo - maybe a factory mistake.
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Arrow Elite was one of the first yoyos I picked up when I got back into the hobby a few months back. I love it except one thing… It doesn’t seem to “hold” its responsiveness well with the small bearing in. It stopped responding after a few weeks of moderate use and so I added some thick lube. Was great again for a few weeks before becoming unresponsive again. A touch of thick lube should remedy that again. So, that would be what I suggest for you to try 
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Here is the picture of the gap in the yoyo. I also included the other bearing that came with it and a measure (that one is in cm)IMG_20200516_165302_MP|375x500
I also bought some thick lube that should arrive on Monday. Hopefully that solved the issue. Thank you for all of the advice
sorry to hear your yoyo isn’t working properly. Always a bummer😑, put a drop of thick lube in and your golden! Hope this helps
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That’s a responsive bearing alright. I’m assuming you’re putting a good throw into it and know how to tug return. I guess until your thick lube comes you may as well practice unresponsive and learn to bind so you have two styles of play you can work. Don’t over lube the bearing. A drop is good enough. Lube the bearing when it’s off the yoyo and dry off any drips so it doesn’t get on the string. Don’t put any thick lube on the wide bearing.
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Thank you. I will try doing the unresponsive bind for now and wait for the lube.
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When it comes to thick lube, usually more than one drop is needed to keep a responsive throw nice and snappy.
Thin lube (for unresponsive throws), on the other hand, is the stuff that you have to be very conservative with.
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One drop of lube, try it, need another drop? add another drop.
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Thank you for all of the great advice. The lube arrived today and it works perfectly now
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That hasn’t been my experience. All of my yoyos purchased new had shields on the bearing. Regardless of responsive or unresponsive. Only previously owned yoyos came w/o shields.
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All of my responsive yoyos yyf one and recess first base came with a open faced bearing next to kuntosh 5000qv for an unresponsive bearing comparison
Maybe it is the half spec that comes unshielded. I just checked my YYF One (also red), that has no shields. However, my loop 360 (with a smaller “A” size bearing) is shielded. I tend to replace the shields on bearings when I do maintenance, so I am about 99% confident the One never was shielded.
@jhb8426 Post fixed sorry for bad info 
i thought yyf used all the same responsive bearings for there responsive throws.
No problem. It wasn’t necessarily bad, just different from what I’ve seen.