I have a few center track and concave bearings that are very noisy. I have some thin lube, my question is how long do you let the lube be on the bearing before putting it back in the yoyo? I put one drop on one side and wait 5, 10 minutes and flip it and do the same for the other. Is that correct? My second question is most of my unresponsive c bearings are shielded. Can you take the shield off? Is it better to keep it on, I feel that maybe a reason they are noisy
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Shields can be removed at any point, and it’s not worth putting them back on. You’ll need to use a needle or pin to remove the C-ring holding the shield in place. Once removed you need to bathe the bearing to remove the Debris that’s causing the noise. I suggest mineral spirits as the proper solution to put the bearing into. Submerge it completely in the mineral spirits, and swish it around for a few seconds… Doesn’t take long for it to do its job. The remove the bearing and spin it on the tip of a pencil or Bic pen. I also use a paper towel and just tap the broad side of the bearing on it a to get rid of the large drops of solution. After it’s been spun long enough for the solution to evaporate, then using the needle/pin from before put a small drop of lube on the table or surface you’re working at. DO NOT PUT IT DIRECTLY INTO THE BEARING. Using the needle/pin dip the tip of that into the bead of lube and place the tip into the inner race of the bearing. Spin it again on the pencil/pin.
NOTE: If the bath is done properly, the lubing is completely 100% UNNECESSARY. Despite what people may tell you, a 57-84g yoyo is NOT going to stress a bearing to the point that lube maintenance is a necessity (unless you’re in a VERY high humidity climate).
Any more lube than from the tip of the needle/pin will result in raising the viscosity levels inside the bearing. You want the absolute thinnest layer you can achieve (which is why I recommend none at all).
For personal use, I’ve switched to automotive break cleaner… Couple blasts into the shield-less bearing, spun on a Bic pen. Blast at high speed with an air compressor. No lube. Takes 20 seconds. Little to no noise. If there is, I just do it again.
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Well, some people want quiet bearings and still would lube their bearing.
Of course, you don’t have to clean the bearing every time you lube it, most of the time I only need to lube the bearing to quiet it down.
(Most of the time for me, the reason for cleaning a bearing is a overlubing issue rather than a debris issue)
Heck, you don’t even need to unshield the bearing to lube it. Of course, if you are lubing a shieldless bearing you want to put in a lot less lube than a shielded one since the lube gets in way easier and a half drop might make the bearing responsive compared to maybe 2 drops on a shielded bearing(remember to soak the residue away with printing paper or kitchen paper (don’t use tissue) ).
Leaving it on or off is more of a preference issue it seems, a lot of the pros won’t bother putting the shield back on after cleaning. Oppositely, I also have some shielded bearings that are crazily quiet.
I never bother with that lol, the lube sips in and distribute itself evenly as you are playing as long as you don’t put in too much.
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I’m curious what bearings you’re running and what climate you’re in where they require lube to be quite.
I’ll put my dry DS Platinum bearings against anything else… They are not silent, but they are in no way noisy. Just a nice soft tsssssss… The amount of lube it sounds to me you’re using would just annihilate spin time. But I could be imagining a lot more than what you’re using in reality.
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Thank you so much! I had no idea that could be done! Makes complete sense though!! Now I’m nervous thinking I may have messed up a few of my bearings by putting the thin lube on, event tho it’s only a drop on either side, from what you are saying I may have made the bearing worse. So are you saying it’s better to take the shield off? Or on? Or it doesn’t matter? Thanks again for your response! Very helpful, I appreciate it
Well, actually the bearing varies so much from bearing to bearing even with the same type of bearing, the climate is actually not that humid where I am.
I’ve got a CT bearing stock from purchase that is crazily quiet and another CT bearing from a BST that was screeching.
I’m only putting in a needle drop of lube for shieldless bearings and a bit more if directly onto a shielded one, definitely not overlubing(I think 
). I might killed a bit of spin time unknowingly but definitely not noticeable though.
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What he’s doing is called cleaning the bearing and yes you need to remove the shield to clean it. The part that doesn’t matter is whether you decide to leave it off or put it back on after cleaning, or whether to remove it only for lubing purposes.
You’re very welcome! And you didn’t ruin them… Just made them more difficult to use. A bath in mineral spirits will remove the lube from the bearing.
I remove the shields the first time I clean the bearing, if it even has them to begin with. A lot of bearings are now being sold di-shielded.
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What do you mean by killing the spin time? So even though its thin lube and you use a tiny drop it’ll slow down the spin of the bearing? Like for good? Or temporary until the lube evaporates
I understand that I’m just trying to understand the proper way to take care of the bearings that’s all
I would have never thought to use mineral spirits, I feel like an idiot! Lol that stuff is great!
I have no idea that climate change could have effect on the spin time, this is good stuff!!
I have noticed that, I can see the benefits of shielded bearings, it helps keep dirt and debree out of them, but on the other hand it seems it makes it more difficult to keep them clean because of the shield… Idk maybe I am over thinking all of this haha
You are awesome!!
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Nah, everything achieved with lubing is temporary, you can always redo everything by cleaning the bearing as mentioned above.
Lubing will kill a tiny bit of spintime.
But if you only put in a little, LITTLE bit of lube, the loss in spintime is hardly noticeable, at least for me. The spintime loss is very obvious though if you put in too much lube.
The purpose of lubes to decrease noise and increase longevity, (mostly the previous reason). So for some people, they don’t mind a bit of noise and changing the bearing a bit more frequently and never lube their bearings.
I’m not someone too picky on the noise of bearings but since they vary so much even with the same bearing type some just screech as I receive them and I just had to lube them in that case, I heard the DS bearing (mentioned abouve )is consistently quieter, although I only have one myself.
Last but not least the climate. humid climates make rusting more prone and lubing prevent rusting and helps with longevity of the bearing a lot in those conditions. It still helps with longevity in drier climates too but that’s more of a reducing abrasion issue.
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You guys are awesome!! Thanks for the feedback, this may have been a dumb question but I spend a decent amount of money on my yo-yos and just like anything else you buy or care about, you know you want to take care of them and prolong the life of them
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Good thorough reply, sir.
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See this topic, it really depends if you like a quiet or noisy bearing.
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Does 70% count?
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Ever try the graphite dust?
I’d assume so… I’ve never been in humidity that high consistently (that I know of).
Come to Hong Kong
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Yes, very messy. Turned the string and the inside of the yoyo black as well as my hand. 
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