Basically I have bought some Duncans over the course of the past several months. I like Duncans and they play great but only after I replaced the stock bearings. The first was a Butterfly AL. I had a ton of problems and after trying everything else I replaced the bearing with a Magicyoyo “gold” bearing I had laying around and problem solved. I figured I got a dud bearing, no big deal it happens. Then I buy a Grasshopper gtx and again, the issues popped up and after the cleaning etc I popped another cheapo I had in there and it’s an amazing yoyo. Then my wife tosses me a Butterfly XT she found at the supermarket. That bearing was straight up chipped and seized up. It played like a classic Butterfly. Replaced with cheapo and you know the rest.
I guess I’m just trying to find out whether or not others have had similar experiences lately or if mine are just an incredibly unbelievable coincidence.
Not specifically with Duncans, but from every company and every store lately, I’ve had to replace about 5 out of every 8 bearings on arrival.
Some I think could be saved with cleaning, but I haven’t tried it yet (so much easier to just replace).
I’m not sure what’s up with it, it feels like it’s more of an issue than it was just a year or two ago.
I feel like bearings have always been a problem with every company. It seems to be hard to test for issues because they would have to use them for a bit to find any issues
Pretty much this. In my experience with almost any new yoyo, the bearing will be super quiet and smooth for like 10-15 minutes of play, and then it’ll seize up entirely. If somebody was testing the yoyo, it’d have seemed perfect until they hit that point. Not sure if I’m just unlucky, or it’s the environment I’m in, or a combination of both.
Although I’ve never had a single yoyo with an actual dud bearing, some acetone/a lighter/compressed air gets them all back to spinning properly. So it’s really not much of an issue in my opinion.
i’ve never had a yoyo just seize up on me, but i have had yoyos, brand new and/or freshly cleaned get loud on the first throw. typically the noise just goes away after a while, im not too picky on bearing noise as long as its playing unresponsive.
Oddly, I kinda had the opposite happen. I got an Orbital a few weeks ago, and put a ceramic bearing in it and it just wouldn’t play right at all. Put the original Duncan bearing it came with back in and it plays like a dream now.
Seasonally, we get more complaints in winter as bearings experience significant temperature changes in transit. Also a good knock on a package can ruin a bearing in a yoyo that was perfect prior to shipping so I think its important to understand the manufacturer can QC and test all day long, but then it enters the real world that they have very little control over.
However in saying that I think a few bearing vendors dropped a notch in quality after they all tooled up for fidget spinners. We have switched primary suppliers in that time period after we basically threw away multiple large batches of bearings.
Bearings are SO fickle they can whine loudly…. or never hear them….can seize up on one throw….can cut strings to send your throw-into space….or stopping completely!?
Every manufacturer puts in a “good” bearing and distributes its products to us!
Keep a bottle of mineral spirits or lighter fluid on hand…. Pick up a duster for co2……
You should be good to go….
