FFY Grind Machine is now responsive

Yo-Yo Mods and Maintenance
1

Hey guys

I am new at yoyoing and I bought a Grind Machine. After 3 weeks af playing it, it became responsive. Can anyone explain how the response system works? Is there a way to make it totally unresponsive again?

Thanks :slight_smile:

2

Two things to check:

First, see if you have a knot down at the bearing, which may be causing an extra loop which wold contribute to the possibility of things being more responsive.

Second, perhaps a thorough bearing cleaning might be in order. Have you lubed it? If so, what did you use to lubricate the bearing? How much did you use?

The response system is a pair of rubber/silicone rings(white) close to where the bearing seat is. If you’ve bought new, ideally the yoyo might be a big more responsive that normal as you break the response system in through throws and binds and play. If you used the wrong response pads, they might be too tall and causing extra responsiveness. But, at 3 weeks, your pads should be “fine”

Third, the bearing might be breaking in. Keep playing, it will go back to unresponsive soon.

That’s all I can think of.

3

  1. I don’t have a knot :slight_smile:

  2. I havn’t clean it a all and havn’t used any lub in the bearing. Can that be the reason? How often should I clean it and use lub?

Thank you for the detailed answer :slight_smile:

4

1: Good. That’s one a lot of new people don’t notice.

2: No cleaning and no lube? I know the bearing comes with some lube from the factory. How often you clean it and use lube is one of those personal preferences. I find I prefer to clean my bearings right away to get any stuff out of them, then lube very lightly using YYJ thin lube or One Drop VM4 lube very sparingly(because the bearing shields are off, more lube gets into the bearing, so use less lube).

Some people who play their yoyo a lot may lube once a month or maybe even every 2 weeks, and even then, it’s probably no more than 1 drop at a time. Some may not need to lube so often. I’m rotating between several yoyos, so it can be quite some time between when I need to lubricate a yoyo bearing. Some people like to play their bearings dry(cleaned and then no lube). My main yoyo that I prefer to play, a DM2, I have a Terrapin X Wing Cut in there, and theoretically I should never have to lube it or clean it. 6 months of playing it, I can’t say I have had a need to lube it.

I think your bearing is finally breaking in. Keep playing it, it should become unresponsive soon. However, soon is something I can’t say what it will be. It could be your throw too, because at 3 weeks, you’re just starting and if your throw is crooked enough where the string is rubbing on the response, that could certainly cause the problem you’re having. However, the problem would be inconsistent, just like your throw. But, if you want, you can try to put a drop of lube in your bearing. It may help.

Do be aware that lubrication in the bearing will cause it to slow down. That’s just how it goes. I find a little lube goes a long way though and I mainly lube for ensuring a longer bearing life.

5

The Grind Machine comes from Yoyo Factory. Which would make the acronym YYF, not FFY. Don’t really want to seem rude. Just sayin’

6

He’s new. He needs help with his yo-yo, not with his typing/spelling :wink:

I would just say replace the bearing or the response pads and see how things work out from there…

1 Like
7

I just ordered the Grind Machine and have been looking around all the forums and a couple have been seeing the same problem. It looks like the answer is to clean the bearing and put a little drop of thin lube on it.

8

Haha ups didn’t see the FFY ;D Thanks for all the answers. I’ll order some lub and try cleaning it and see what happens :slight_smile:

9

Hmm I just got a One Drop Dang yoyo today. After playing with is for 4 hours it seemed that it aswell ran dry of lub. I cleaned the bearing and added a little bit of lub. So it is still making a sound. But it is the same as the Grind Machine. It is still a bit responsive and the first 4 hours is was all dead. Maybe it is as you said that the bearing needs to kick in. But it is not fun at all when it is smashing my hand when I try to do a slack trick :slight_smile: It is unresponsive but when I do the Suicide trick it grapped the string! :slight_smile: But I guess that happens sometime :slight_smile:

10

Don’t forget, new bearings and new response pads ALSO need to break in.

11

Okay :slight_smile: I bought a extra 10 Ball bearing and when I use that in the Dang then it works perfectly again :slight_smile: So now I know it is the bearing. I try to put as little lub in it as possiable. Now only time can tell if it will work :slight_smile:

12

This has happened with a lot of my throws as well.
I’ve learned that a lot of yoyos have to be “broken in” this is a term that means the bearing has to be used for a little while to just mix the fluids around and use the bearing. This process may take awhile or not so much but it will probably become responsive and make weird sounds. This happened with my DV888, POPstar, and Northstar, as well as all my friends yoyos. So don’t sweat it.

13

This happened to my PGM too. Is yours’ vibing? If so, you might want to check the hub. It turned out mine was cracked, and after further research, it turns out some other people’s had cracked hubs too. YYF had great customer service and sent me a new PGM. I’m pretty sure this is not the case though. Just follow Studio’s advice. He knows what he’s doing. (Since you’re new, if you don’t know what the hub is, it is the area where the axle fits, around the hubstacks) :slight_smile: