Hey guys, my unresponsive yoyos are responding and I have no idea why. I have a YYF One, a YYF Protostar, a CLYW Canvas, and a CLYW Gnarwhal, and they all respond for some reason. The only reason I can think of is string tension, because I’m a left-handed yoyo player. Someone please help!
I would clean the bearings.
Good luck! 
:o I’ve been told to do that, but this happens on ALL my yo-yos and I just got new bearings.
AND it happened before I got new bearings too.
True. Make sure you are using a thin lube when lubbing them. Thick lube will actually slow them down
well, you should try cleaning the bearings. you said you were ‘told’ to do so, so I’m thinking you haven’t done so. It might be because new bearings are not always dry, which would require either breaking in or cleaning to be unresponsive.
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Lol, thanks man, I’ll go out and get some thin lube and see if that works
Just clean your bearings out really good to start with. Then sparingly apply lube. Pin dipped in lube then touched to a ball or two.
Thin lube also slows bearings down. The fastest and least responsive bearings are bone dry.
At very least, there’s no reason to go buy thin lube to attempt to fix the problem. It won’t. Cleaning out the bearings is the best bet.
Running your bearing bone dry will destroy them unless they Re cermaic. Don’t run them bone dry
that is not in the least bit true.
Over time the heat from the metal will eventually warp and remove the hardening put on the balls. It is every bit true.
Right, but the difference is barely a practical concern. A bearing could last years and they cost about $10 to replace. You would spend more on a bottle of lube than you would save by keeping the bearing twice as long.
I run all my bearings bone dry and I advise others to do the same if they want the fastest, least responsive bearing possible. Lube isn’t a must by any means. I actually think the main purpose for lube is just to keep a bearing quiet and feeling smooth, not for longevity.
The original point being that this guy is trying to make his yoyos less responsive. Lube isn’t going to help, it’ll just make it worse.
It will make it worse for a little while till he breaks it in. All of my bearing are $25+ because I buy ceramic so that I don’t have to lube them and they will last forever. Point being, lube your bearings unless your going to buy them on a regular basis.
But it will never fix the problem. It won’t ever make it less responsive.
No it won’t. But if he’s going to clean them it will break down all the factory lube and unless he applies more after it will just cause further problem. He might even have a fractured ball
Running the bearing dry won’t cause further problem if his problem is that his bearings are too responsive. It will only help.
I think you’re vastly overstating the need for lube in terms of bearing life, and just the fragility of bearings in general. I will grant that lube probably extends the life, but a dry bearing’s life is potentially quite long. Could be measured in years. I don’t think it’s the primary reason people use lube on their bearings.
Depending on the bearing.
I have been yoyoing for 10 months, and haven’t bought new bearings as a replacement. I run them bone dry.
Okay, so, how would you suggest I clean them? Also, one of my friends told me valve oil works, and since I play in the school band, that’s pretty convenient…