Questions about Crucial SPR and other Crucial questions

No disrespect intended. I may have to go elsewhere to get this item, but I will contact Sales at YYE first before I take business elsewhere for this item. If this means waiting to get parts because YYE can get it for me, then I will patiently and pay in advance.

I have a Crucial Half & Half. I got it via BST. I think it has a few minor issues preventing it from being all it can be. I’m planning to investigate some of this in my spare time this weekend. I just want to be a bit informed. I think this would be a great yoyo if it was given a little TLC.

1: I take it that this yoyo does use the Crucial SPR system.

2: Is the SPR system fairly easy to swap in and out? Are there any instructions I should know before attempting to remove or replace it if it becomes necessary to do so?

3: The yoyo shipped with black pads in there. These appear to be silicone pads like the Duncan silicone stickers. It also included a pair of what I am assuming are proper Ghost Pads, which appear to be clear. The black pads extend slightly above the recess. I think the yoyo is a big grabby as a result, which is what is driving this whole series of questions. The bearing spins fantastic, so I don’t think it’s the bearing that is causing me problems, it’s the response. If I have to use pads, do I use thick/medium or thick/large pads?

4: Is the SPR compatible with silicone? Given the choice between buying replacement ghost pads and using flowable, I’d rather just silicone it myself.

5: Would this yoyo have shipped with a Crucial Grooved bearing? It has a flat in there right now.

I’m not opposed to buying pads, a new SPR pair and a new bearing in order to take it to “factory condition” if I need to. Maybe I don’t need to do anything except yank the pads and silicone it, that would be fine too.

I’m asking this in public rather than to YYE direct because I figure someone else can benefit from these questions and answers. And I did do some searching and didn’t find sufficient answers.

Thank you very much in advance for any information, advice and assistance. The efforts are greatly appreciated.

Well I believe I can answer some of these questions better than others so here goes:

  1. Yes it uses the SPR system.
  2. I never swapped mine out, but I did take them out “just for fun.” Went back in just fine, didn’t break the yoyo or anything like that.
  3. No idea about what pads to use/swap out…sorry. Is it responsive or just grabby?
  4. I never thought about it…like I said, mine just works, but if yours doesn’t it could need some help!
  5. I have this yoyo and it came with a standard “flat” bearing. It was released before the Crucial Grooved Bearing existed. Or at least before they were Crucial’s standard. I think the Confection when it released last year was the first Crucial to get the grooved bearing standard.

Sorry I can’t help more than that!

Actually, that’s a rather tremendous amount of help.

Regarding #3:
It seems responsive but I can get through advanced tricks(of what I can do) but it wants to come back fairly often and at the wrong time. My thoughts are the response should be flush or slightly below the place where the response goes, not slightly above it.

Regarding #4: Just seeing clarification if it can use flowable. I don’t want to rip out pads if I don’t have to, at least not yet!

But in all seriousness, that’s a lot of the information I’m looking for and that’s really helpful and I am really appreciative.

well, you’re going to have to take out the pads anyways, so just take them out, if the recess is about 1-2mm deep or more then it should be compatible with flowable. Almost every unresponsive yoyo out there that uses silicon stickers is compatible with flowable, except for a select few that use really thin pads (I think it’s mostly general yo).

Thanks for the suggestion. Yes, I agree that even something 1mm deep is enough to take and hold flowable. The RecRev Sharp uses the General Yo Thin Hat pads and I had that modified to accept silicone and now it plays fantastic. I know because I ripped out the first silicone job I did(It was a bit too high and when I was rubbing it down to break it in faster it yanked out, but I was also pressing very hard).

So, thanks for your advice to just proceed. It will be taken under advisement. I should be able to get to this task this weekend.

Nice, hope that all works well for you! Looking at it I think flowable should work. After you take the pads out it looks like it’ll be about as deep as my first Spyy PURE which I put flowable into a bit ago and it works perfectly. Good luck!

Just for the heck of it, I took my well broken bearing out of my DM2(a Terrapin X Wing Cut), because that yoyo is dead unresponsive. Problem isn’t the bearing.

I’ve now ripped the pads out of the Half & Half and I’ve put flowable in it. It just seems like it may be a bit too thin. Now I have more questions.

The bearing seat and response area is black, which is why the pad appeared to be black. When I removed the pads that were in there, they look pretty much the same as the spare ghost pads that I do have. It doesn’t look like the SPR’s on another site. I wonder if maybe the Half & Half went through a change during production and perhaps I have an early model? Then again, maybe not.

How do I take this insert out? Maybe I need to get a newer SPR to put in there.

Interesting. I siliconed my Half & Half and have been trying to play it and it’s just too responsive. It’s now MORE unresponsive now that it has a different bearing in it. The other bearing, well, let’s just say that it didn’t spin as smooth or as long as what is in there now.

Tonight, the silicone ripped out. I replaced it with the original ghost pads. Thank goodness I saved them. Looking at the remnants of the post mortem for the silicone job, it’s too think. It’s not my siliconing job, it’s the fact that there’s not a deep enough groove to put it in. Anyhow, I still have questions:

How does one remove the SPR? Or maybe this is an older one that can’t be removed? Anyhow, I’d like to know so I can decide if I’m going to buy a new SPR system. I’m trying to like this yoyo. I like how it looks and how it plays and how it feels in the hand. I just want it to be all it can be. Maybe I need to stock up on Ghost pads, but I’d rather be able to just silicone it.

I’ve been shown how to remove the SPRs out of my Half & Half, and have ordered replacement SPR’s for both C-sized bearings and an A-sized bearing, and ordered a centertrak A bearing to go with it(I’m using a centertrak C in there right now, BIG improvement, but I had a KK in there and I liked that better).

So, this issue is resolved.

How do you remove the SPR?
You can take the axle or a suitable sized bolt and use that to pull the SPR our. I’m sure pliers would work too. It’s really not that difficult. Since the threads for the axle are deeper into the yoyo halves, that ensures everything stays put.

The C-sized SPR comes with ghost pads that YOU put on. If it’s the A-sized SPR kit, it includes a silicone rubber O-ring.

You just insert the axel slightly and wiggle it might take a few minutes.

Yup. Already resolved.

Now I’ve noticed the A-sized bearing SPR’s are not a clean fit. They hold fine, but they don’t take up the whole SPR seat area. That doesn’t seem right. Oh well.