Hey guys, so I wanted to get into unresponsive yoyo play and people kept recommending the Level 6. With this being said, it’s still 85% unresponsive, but I still seem to be able to bring it up with a nice tug. It came with (what I think) was a cotton or maybe 50/50 string so I threw on a 100% polyester string but it’s still responding. Should I get some thin lube? I really want it to never come up without a bind cause sometimes when I practice whips it seems to wind up, Thanks in advance!
Only reason I believe it’s not the bearing is because the yoyo is 3 days old haha.
Okay, if it’s binding up randomly, you do not want to add lube. That will only make it more responsive as counter-intuitive as that may seem. The cause of the issue is that either the bearing is currently over-lubed already or something’s found its way into the bearing (dirt, dust, stray string fuzz etc.). If there’s too much lube, you can just keep playing it and eventually it’ll break down. If it’s dust or if you need it to be 100% unresponsive right now, then you’ll have to clean the bearing. If so, you will need to:
- disassemble your yoyo and remove the bearing.
- deshield the bearing using a pin or needle
- soak it in some mineral turpentine or lighter fluid
- give it a bit of a swish in said fluid to loosen up any dirt that might be in there
- air dry the bearing
- put the shields back on the bearing if you want or just leave them off to make it easier to clean in the future
Yuki
I mean, just to clarify…these yoyo’s should not come up no matter how hard I tug without a bind right? Or am I just mislead on what unresponsive means haha. I wanna break it in a little more before going through all that in case I accidentally mess something up…haha.
Unresponsive yoyos (like the Level 6) should not come up without a bind, correct. I find that a lot of companies that mass produce throws have a tendency to put a bit too much lube into the bearings at the factory (YYF are especially guilty of this). Just keep throwing it for a few more days and if it’s still randomly snagging, you might have to bite the bullet and clean the bearing.
Yuki
It seems to just be coming up easier as I go on…
Could it be because I’m throwing it too hard? I previously used a yomega maverick and you have to really throw that to get a good spin, so should I ease back on how hard I throw it? I’m uploading a video now showing the ease of bringing it back up.
Here’s the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdrVf1AXkYc&feature=youtu.be
Again, ignore my awful grind at the end haha I don’t really know them yet, but I was using it to show how the yoyo shoots up…but naturally it doesn’t do it that time… 
Probably a bearing issue, doesn’t matter if the yoyo is a few hours or a few years old, this can happen at any time. Refer to Jerrod’s post about cleaning the bearing.
Whatever it is, there’s no need to worry, its an easy fix. If at worst, you need a new bearing, and those are like 5$
it does that sometimes with my shutter then goes away,sometimes, i just fix string tention and it goes away.
Alright, I guess I’ll try cleaning the bearing. Don’t like that I have this issue so soon after buying this yoyo >:(
You’ll get used to it 
Went to clean the bearing and cannot for the life of me figure out how to deshield it? There’s no gap that I can see that can fit a needle.
Finally got it. Cleaned it and everything and still comes back up with ease. Gonna see if I can exchange it or might just return and get a Benchmark H. Bit disappointing 
If you can’t get an exchange or refund on it, your best bet would be to just get a new bearing. Should only set you back a couple of bucks.
Yuki
Well I should be able to get a refund, right? It’s defective?
Best bet would be to just shoot YYE a message and see what they say. They’re great with customer service-y type things like this.
Yuki
Maybe you need to break the pads in, especially if its got the wide c3 pads.
Only reason I DO believe its the bearing is its 3 days old. Play it in, lots of bearings come a bit responsive becaus of lube used in manufacturing. It is normal to have to break-in a new bearing.
If you are not patient, clean it:
if you go 'round the bearing, there is a space in the c-clip that you will stick the pin inside.