Quite frankly, consider yourself lucky that the bearing comes out easily. Most people here complain that the bearing is too tight.
You haven’t yoyoed in 17 years and your yoyo doesn’t spin forever??? Is it maybe that your skills are rusty? Sorry to be so forthright.
He already addressed that. His other yo-yos work fine and he’s back to throwing for 3 months. I think there’s a problem between your keyboard and chair 
I appreciate your insight, and I take into consideration my skill level, but I also know quality as well. I’m only a few months back into throwing but I have faith in what skill I do have. I know I’m no Gentry Stein but would assume something with his name on it would last longer than half way through one string trick…as my other Shutters have the ability to complete much longer tricks without dying out. (I have 2 second hand shutters besides the Wide Angle)
I’m able to perform identical tricks with yoyo’s of considerably lower quality such as The Original Shutter, and even lower grade Magic Yoyo’s. This was the first “quality” throw (my wife) purchased for me as a birthday present.
I’ve swapped the bearing and still, same issue with the wide angle.
I’ve used the bearing from the wide angle in my other shutters as well as my CZM8, and Magic Yoyo Silencer and the bearing seems fine.
I’ve cleaned it by taking the shields off, leaving it in zippo fluid for an hour, dried thoroughly and lubed with a fraction of a drop of thin lube, replaced the shields and placed it back into the wide angle straight.
Upon throwing in the wide angle again, it still dies out very quickly during simple string tricks, most notably “cold fusion” - a very basic trick. Any string tricks or speed combos beyond that and it doesn’t have the performance to complete them.
My throws are hard, straight, and my muscle memory is just that. I dedicate hours a day to this because I’ve been laid off and this is a great past time to have with my son.
In the pictures in the thread I’ve shown what I’ve found with the anodization around the bearing seat on the axel side and I attribute that to compromising the spin time of the bearing in some way. Maybe it’s a factory defect? Maybe it was damaged during shipping?
These are just the issues I’ve had and with reaching out to YoyoFactory as well as where it was purchased from, Yoyo - Canada with no reply yet. Hopefully I can return it and buy something that suits my “lack of” skill level…as you so succinctly put it.
My purpose of this post was to see if anyone else out there may have had a similar issue with the Shutter Wide Angle…not to compare “string length”. lol
Have a good one buddy!
This is an interesting problem. First, I’m sorry about your experience of getting a new yoyo that isn’t performing well, I think we can all relate to the disappointment of a gift that doesn’t work.
YYFben2 said he emailed you, I’m hoping that will provide some resolution. To me, it sounds like you have done your troubleshooting - checked the bearing, tried a known good bearing, cleaned the WA bearing & retried (and, specified after lubing, you added what sounds like an appropriately small amount of lube). My only other suggestion is perhaps when re-shielding the bearing the shield or clip caused issue - I had this happen one time, I haven’t been able to repeat it. Have you tried playing the original bearing either unshielded or cleaned in zippo fluid but not lubed? If it sounds like I’m grasping at straws, it is because I am.
Anyway, all I can offer is empathy and the hope things get worked out either by YYF or the retailer.
I appreciate you reaching out man! I think the only thing I haven’t tried is running the bearing cleaned without lube…I will try that in a bit and let you know my findings as well. I don’t think it will make much of a difference as everything else I’ve tried has pretty much been a fruitless endeavour but anything is worth a shot right? 
Have you tried just swapping the bearing out with another?
Yes, multiple bearings. Centre track, concave and flat bearings…all the same result. Everything is cleaned, lubed properly, and work great in my other throws.
Weird. I’d be happy to take a look at it if you want to ship it to us. Obviously since you purchased it elsewhere we cannot replace it or cover shipping costs, but I could check it out for you and see if I can fix it. Feel free to PM if interested.
Thank you for the offer Garrett, I’ll keep that in mind. Currently waiting to hear back from the site it was purchased from as well as Ben, who has been an excellent help in my troubleshooting.
If I decide to go that route, I’ll definitely reach out to you. You rock man! 