Silicon Response Notes

Yo-Yo Mods and Maintenance
1

I’ve been in and out of the chat the last few days, and I found that plenty of people are asking the question ‘why is my brand new yo yo responsive?’ and ‘Why is my new response bringing my yo yo back so quick?’. So, as a man who uses flowable silicon for his response, I thought I’d just throw up a few pointers that probably already got talked about.

  1. MY NEW YO YO IS RESPONSIVE
    That’s because the response is fresh. With silicon O rings and the like its going to take some time before you wear the response in and get it to where you want it. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just new. Throw a few types of binds for awhile, and the response will wear down enough for you to use it properly. Each time you bind, it takes a bit of that silicon away, making it concave in the response groove and giving the string more room.

  2. MY NEW RESPONSE IS TOO GOOD!
    Again, throw some binds. It has to set and adjust to the string and response groove. Don’t up and buy a new yo yo because you think you ruined this one with a silicone O ring meant for response.

  3. MY FLOWABLE SILICONE RESPONSE KEEPS BREAKING!
    More than likely, you started using the yo yo too soon. Home made flowable silicone response takes 12-24 hours to set completely, EVEN WHEN IT IS DRY. It drys within an hour, but it has to set. I say wait the full day, let the response get nice and snug in its new home, then bind it to wear it down into position.

  4. MY FLOWABLE SILICONE WON’T EVEN LET THE YO YO BOTTOM OUT BEFORE RETURNING!
    Your problem is most likely caused by too much silicone in the groove. Pouring into a response groove is difficult especially when you start. To make the response concave in its seat, take a business card or index hard and slide it around the edge while flush flat with the yo yo. This takes away excess and gives it a nice sleek look, as if it was meant to sit that way. Because it was.
    Also, the quality of the string you use might effect the response as well. I suggest Poly/cotton simply because that’s what I use for now, and much like the response you may have to break the string in a bit. Not too much. I’ve found there can be a fine line between wearing-in and wearing-out.

YoYoExpert.com has a very good flowable silicone tutorial in the maintenance section of the forums, I suggest you check it out if you would like more details.

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