So I’ve posted a couple of times about a few issues with my Swamp Monster.
First, the inside was shredding all my strings but someone told me about the rubbing denim on the inside to smooth those edges out. worked fine and now my strings are all good.
Now the issue is vibe. like it went from none to a whole bunch of it. Fairly certain something has happed to the axle thread of the yoyo itself (not sure the name for this bit). The yoyo has never been great at screwing and unscrewing. Squeaks real bad. But I take my time and make sure to get it smooth. However, I noticed as I was getting to those last couple turns the bearing was not parallel to the opposite half.
This kept happening no matter how careful I was, I took the axel out and put it in the other side and seems to have fixed it (I think) but now when I get to those last few turns it goes from smooth to having to really force the turn. Which I don’t really want to do because it definitely feels like I’m stripping the axel or something. So its just sat, taken apart, on my table for the last month of so. I feel bad because I only got to throw it like 5 times before all these issues came about.
I’m only just returning to the yoyo world after a long hiatus so I don’t really remember much about maintenance. Is there anything I can do to fix this or have I broken it? I’ve tried a new axle and still does the same so guessing its the inside thread. I’ll get some pictures but in the meantime if anyone could help me out that would be great
There does appear to be some thread galling near the top of the hole but it doesn’t look like a lot. Try lightly oiling the threads before you screw the axle in. I would just put a small drop on the axle and spread it thru the threads with your finger. Then carefully screw the axle into the half with the most evident thread galling. The other half doesn’t appear to be affected. Apply the oil to both ends of the axle.
I would just use bearing lube. WD-40 isn’t actually a lubricant, the WD stands for “water displacing” and it’s actually more of a solvent/rust dissolver. The lubricating properties come from the dissolved components, which eventually goes away.
Yeah everything looks lined up correctly and the last few turns are no longer stiff. Seems to screw together fine now but the vibe is still there. I’ve been thinking it’s the finish on the second run of swamp monsters.
… just went on the PDX-YO website to check the name of the finish and they now have b-grade swamp monsters with vibe for sale. Now I’m thinking maybe I got sent one of them instead of an A grade.
I hate it when that happens, as I’ve experienced this with some other companies, I would contact PDX-YO via email or DM them on IG. They are a new company so hopefully they help you out. If you bought it from YYE they will definitely help you out. Like the old adage " The squeaky wheel gets the grease"
Yeah I bought it from them direct so think I’ll drop them a line. Don’t mind if it was a mistake just want to know if there’s anything I can do to minimise it
I’m sorry but if it was smooth at the beginning then I would expect it to be an A grade. If it gained vibe after it was taken apart I would think it was user related that caused it.
I took it apart once to rub denim on the inside as it had shredded through 3 strings in no time. I was careful in doing this as I am with all my throws. Now it most likely was something I have done but if a yoyo can’t handle being opened once then that’s not good right?
There’s plenty of factors that could have induced vibe from doing so. If you put pressure on the axle while rubbing denim although that would generally take a lot of force or rubbed material off that then got into the bearing seat then it could have caused it.
I’ve also had yoyos that need you to crank on them pretty hard in order to completely secure the yoyo and remove/reduce vibe but it was always sketchy since I didn’t want to strip them.
Plenty of people used to consider unscrewing yoyorecreations bad since they generally were not as smooth after. I know yoyofactory throws were well known for starting with extremely tight bearing seats and over time wearing down from being unscrewed and losing some of the smoothness they had.
Yeah the axle was not in the yo-yo when smoothing the roughness down. Also I really don’t want to “crank” this throw. Sounds like that could strip the tread or something. I’m not leaving it loose if that’s what you mean.
The idea of unscrewing it and that’s what causes vibe I think comes from old school throws but these days with the high level of machining we can do I don’t think this is an issue to worry about on a $70 throw. I mean I still try an refrain from doing it unless totally required. In this case it was because it was snapping all my strings.
Now I’m still pretty sure the vibe on this was caused by myself I just can’t for the life of me figure out how I did it and how I can fix it
Yeah I’ve give it a good look over and nothing is standing out to me aside the thread on the inside looking a bit worn. Also tried a new axle still vibin away. Will try tighten it a bit more but don’t want to make it worse or start stripping it
Not just yet. I’ve been using pliers to remove my bearings and the one on the SM is very tight so I don’t wanna damage the sides or bearing with the pliers trying to wiggle it out. I have a YYF multitool coming in the post so when that arrives I’ll give it a go
