I just got a Magic N12 Shark yoyo and right out of the box I loved it. It’s such a smooth finish and really comfortable shape, but after playing with it for a cumulative 2-3 hours I notice its almost like a responsive yoyo, coming up to my hand whenever I get overlapping strings on the bearing or try whip tricks. How can I fix this??
Clean/replace the bearing.
I thought it might be the response pads in the yoyo? And I can’t even get the bearing off the yoyo
Not likely unless they’re obviously sticking out.
Its the unshielded 10 ball concave that it comes with. Out of the box its unresponsive, but once you add lube to it, it becomes slightly responsive. Some bearings are responsive if you use any lube at all. Dry bearings don’t have any response what so ever but are loud and don’t last very long. Personally I like a dead quiet throw. With my N12, I took the bearing out right away washed it thoroughly, since it is unshielded you can run it under hot water and dish soap. Then thoroughly dry the bearing, put one drop of light lube it in and then start breaking it in. My N12 now is completely unresponsive and dead silent.
Is there anything I can use at home like wd40 to lube my bearing? I don’t have any money to buy bearing lube
Lubing it now will just make it worse. Lube isn’t essential.
Don’t use WD-40. It will end up being a thick lube.
The bearings in the Magic Yoyos are hit and miss. I’ve been fortunate or lucky as so far all of mine play great. Other people have not been so lucky.
First, you need to clean the bearing. I recommend acetone. There are other suitable materials such as Simple Green, mineral spirits and ligher fluid. In a pinch, you could use a good grease cutting dish soap and tap water, BUT you better make sure you completely rinse out and then dry out that bearing by blowing through it and spinning it on a pencil, chopstick or something similar. If you do not completely dry it out, it may rust. Since you don’t have money for lube, you have no money for a cleaning solvent, so the dish soap method is your only option. Make sure you have something in the sink so the bearing doesn’t fall down into the drain pipes.
Second, is the issue of lube, which is another item up for debate. Some say “dry”, some say “lube”. I say “Dry Play”. Regardless, you may wish to gently lube. If you can’t buy yoyo-specific lube, since you are playing an unresponsive yoyo, you want a super thin machine oil, something clear and pretty much moves as thin as water. Dip a needle in the lube bottle, and that little bead that forms at the bottom is all you need. Touch that to a couple of balls in the bearing, spin to work in, replace and play. It may be responsive for a bit, but it will break in and go unresponsive probably within less than 15 minutes.
Remember, lube will NOT make a bearing unresponsive. Lube makes a bearing MORE responsive unless used in tiny amounts. Lube for yoyos is to prevent bearing wear. That’s it, unless you’re deliberately trying to alter the responsiveness if the yoyo.
I wouldn’t say “that’s it”. My only reason(s) for lubing are for smoother and quieter play. I never even think about longevity.
The smoothness is debatable… I don’t have a quantifiable test for it; however, the volume is beyond debate. Lube will make it more quiet. And if this causes a psychosomatic association with “smoothness” then so be it. 