How long can I play with my yoyo without lube

Today I received YYF Onestar, fresh out of the box. After a whole day of playing with it, the ball bearing started making this weird gritting sound. I haven’t lubed it at all and I suppose that might be a problem.

How often should i apply lube to it? And will only store-bought lube do?

to answer what lube will work… any lube will work i personally when i ever lube a yoyo use valve oil that i also use for my french horn.

to answer the other question… i rarely lube a yoyo but thats just me.

you may need to use a little oil but most likely its just the bearing breaking in.

Is that very bad? Because I’m not sure it’s supposed to be that way.

Also there are lubes that make yoyo’s more or less responsive. I don’t want to make mine responsive at all :confused:

EDIT: It now makes a very loud SCREETCHING sound. Definitely NOT how a normal yoyo should sound :smiley:

if you dont want it responsive at all then you might consider not lubing it unless the circumstances are dire…

and yes there are different types of lube that that make the yoyo more and less responsive.

you dont have to lube the yoyo ball-bearings are quite resilient and can last even without lube. If you do lube i recommend the tiniest amount of lube to keep from over flowing the bearing which can make it very responsive.

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Thanks for the advice, it’s reassuring. But I am still paranoid about it being THIS loud. It was the usual casual sound at when I first played with it… Had to take the cap off several times, maybe I ruined it somehow while screwing it back on?

I lube my yo-yos about once a year, so there’s that.

There are yoyo specific lubes but they are not necessary. People successfully use a range of lubes from 3-and1, sewing machine, fishing reel, gun lube or trumpet valve oil. Any low viscosity oil works fine. They all work fine. The sound you are hearing is most likely the bearing breaking in from normal play. Nothing to be concerned about. Lube lightly.

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Worst comes to worst you can always clean the bearing–there’s information on how to do that on the forum I believe.

But if you gave it a drop and it’s much more quiet you’re good to go for months.

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Some plastics are loud, sometimes it’s not the bearing.

Ok what is most likely happening is that the crown retainer on the bearing might be slightly off track and is catching the bearing race just enough to be constantly making that sound.

How to get rid of it? Just keep playing it.

I’m too scared to force it even more by continuing to play with it. So I lubed it and now its all perfect. It became somewhat more responsive so I’ll have to find some thinner lube somehow :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

if its to responsive for you just run the bearing under a faucet of water… and then let the bearing dry out on a paper towel for about two hours just to make sure all the water is out of there. Then pop it back into the yoyo and you should be fine. Also if you can find a spray can of air you can blow the bearing dry after you have finished running it under water… Also make sure to run the bearing only for a short bit prolonged exposure to water may cause rust in the bearing.

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If you have a compressor or the canned air, skip the faucet step. Just blow the lube dry. Enough will remain in the bearing to do the job.