Does anyone know if dead strings change the speed of the throw, or in any way damage the yoyo like response pads or something?
thanks for the help everybody! If anybody has any more info on yoyo tweaking not mentioned in this post yet please comment!
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If you can get your hands on the necessary things to clean a bearing and feel comfortable doing that, I’d recommend it. Here’s a post on traditional bearing cleaning methods: How to Clean Your YoYo Bearing. And here’s a post on the paper bearing cleaning method, which you could do instead of or in addition to the above: On bearings and the paper cleaning method: - #15 by A_Soviet_Locust.
I don’t know if it affects the speed per se, but it can definitely change the feel of a yoyo for the worse. If you can exchange the string for a new one, then that’s definitely a good idea to try.
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I’ve never heard of a bearing seat “dying”. Unless you’ve really overtightened the yoyo, there really isn’t any wear and tear that can damage it. I would follow daboross’s advice and try cleaning the bearing, that’s likely your issue. And clean your bearing seat as well, take a tiny piece of paper towel or napkin, like smaller than 1cm X 1cm, crumple it up a little bit, and use your fingernail or a pencil or something thin to push it around the bearing seat. Take the paper out, if you can see any dirt or grime on it, repeat the process with a new piece of clean paper towel or napkin until you don’t see any grime on the piece after you’ve pushed it around the seat. Yoyos don’t really deteriorate from use, the only things that wear are usually the response pads, the bearing, or the axle, and to me it seems very likely that it’s just a bearing and bearing seat issue.
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I’ll do just that. Good tip
I’m finding this out to much dismay. That’s why I wanted a metal substitute…
The old school solution to “weak plastic bearing seats” is/was metal spacers, ala the ProtoStar. However, I think I’d rather have to replace a cheap yoyo every few years than deal with those death-grip spacers.
Metal replay my favorite organic no cap i also recommend it
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Just being nitpick here, this is a bearing post problem, not a bearing seat problem.
that there is a mighty complicated chart. thanks though,
It seems that some lube on the old bearing and a string change did the trick. I"m going to try lubing the new bearing that made it dead.
Anyone cleaned with isopropol with success? I’ve seen guys on this site talk about isopropol and acetone saying that acetone doesn’t work… Just curious for some reiteration. thnkx
I use acetone to clean bearings all the time. Seems to work for me.
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@graiskye said:
Acetone is a crappy bearing cleaner, I have said it before and I will say it again and again until people quit recommending it as a bearing cleaner.
FACT the acetones you buy, from local hardware stores, paint shops, have perfumes and other crap in them, unless you buy top quality, and the average consumer does not have access to top quality acetone, you get the crap they cant sell as the top quality acetone.
Trust me I know a lot about thinners/solvents, Ive worked as a industrial automotive painter and used acetone, and other thinners/solvents every day for years, Acetone is really, really nasty stuff, whereas ISO alcohol is basically benign, should you happen to get it splashed in your eyes you simply rinse it out(not that it happens, Im just making a point), you can touch it without worrying about it leaching through your skin like acetone, IsoAlchohol is just all around safer and better solvent than acetone.
Recommending teens use acetone is pretty shortsighted IMHO, especially when there are better, less lethal solvents that work every bit as well as acetone, which, Ill repeat this… unless you get top quality acetone, which you cannot buy, it has perfume, additives, oils, and various other garbage chemicals, this gets deposited on your bearings, and while it is generally not enough of a problem to really affect the bearing, why use something like that ?
What is the benefit of acetone ?
Acetone is terrible nasty stuff, its terrible for the earth, its terrible for anyone who touches the stuff, there is nothing good to say about acetone other than ‘it is a solvent that can clean a bearing’!
…
that’s why I was wondering about this with concentration differences and corrosion possibilities and whatnot. Perhaps isopropol is just as good and definitely safer without having to worry about drying time and the works… idk really just asking around
Ask yourself what are you trying to do with a solvent to clean a bearing.
You want to suspend anything and everything that isn’t metal into the solution and then remove all of that solution and all the suspended or dissolved gunk from the bearing.
This means using truely horrendous chemicals like acetone, because acetone eats and dissolves flesh (or dust in our case), hair, plastic particles, etc… Hopefully it will suspend small bits of metal that you can then blow out of the bearing with compressed air.
So yeah, use isopropyl, blow out the bearing really good, buy a new one if that doesn’t work. Acetone is truely horrendous, if you’re not going to be careful with it, don’t use it.
Better to just spend more money on new bearings then injuring yourself.
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what’s the process you use? where do you get the acetone?
Home Depot or CVS, the klean strip stuff at home Depot is 100%, at cvs make sure it says 100%.
Put in jar with bearings and shields off, wait 20+ minutes, shake the jar a bit. Blow air through bearings, via straw (don’t suck in through straw), air compressor, canned air. Let dry on paper towel on a surface that is glass.
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I like. After the air blow how long does it take to dry on the paper towel? (why the glass surface?)
Takes like a minute or two to dry. Glass surface so you don’t destroy your table or finish on your counter top.
I guess you can forgo the paper towel.