Well, I silicone a lot of my yo-yos with standard flowable silicone, and for some reason my pads like to rip out really quick. I heard that they are supposed to last as long as a regular pad, but mine rip out within a month or so. Am I doing something wrong? I make sure the recess is clean before I silicone, and I even wait at least 24 hours for it to cure.
I’ve had a similar problem in the past and what it came down to was the silicone I was using was just old and even though I let it cure for 24 hours it was actually slightly granulated and never really became a solid unit. I’ve also seen silicone come out when its not really in the response groove completely; basically if the silicone has some small air bubbles in it, it is much more susceptible to coming out since it never quite makes a suitable seal in the groove. I used to use several silicones from home depot but never was all that happy with them. My preference now is monkey snot from monkey finger. It flows nicely and the syringe applicator make it very easy to control.
What yoyos are you putting silicone in? Not all yoyos are compatible with silicone, many of which are A-sized bearing yoyos and many D-sized bearing yoyos that tend to use sticker responses.
Also, in my case, I’m willing to deal with replacing the response more often for the purposes of getting the performance I want. I’m also going to pick up some red gasket making silicone soon and see how I like that.
I’m using yo-yos with “slim pad” sized responses (with size C bearings), and the yo-yos have nice silicone recesses. I know, I’ve tried putting silicone in a sticker recess, and it didn’t work well. Anyways, I’ve heard that red gasket silicone lasts longer. After you get it, would you send me some feedback? Thanks.
Alright, thanks. So Monkey Snot works better for you? I always thought it was the exact same as regular flowable except with color. By the way, I usually check for air bubbles, so that’s not the problem.
So far the monkey snot is pretty easy to apply. It is not as viscous as regular silicone so it fills the groove more evenly and even if it looks a bit rough when applied within 24 hours its always smooth and sets very well. The response with the monkey snot seems to be pretty consistent and I’ve used it in my evil-yo’s, dv888, spyder 2, stryker and some of my older yyj like the original x-con or lyn fury which all have slight variations in the size of the response groove. The result is always very nice.
I would give the monkey snot a try. When I use it I fill my response groove flush to the wall and when it dries you have a nice recess that isn’t excessively deep which can cause some sloppy binds in my opinion.The only thing I would suggest is that when you get it you place the tube you open in a new zip-lock and squeeze out the excess air so that it doesn’t dry out.
There’s the problem. The slim and thin pad response yoyos tend to not be quite thick enough to hold the silicone very well. I’d recommend stocking up on suitable response replacements or perhaps consider mods to make the recesses deeper to hold silicone.
Would you mind sharing a few models of yoyo you’re doing?
For example, I recently siliconed my DM2, a Royale, a PGM, and a pair of Photon Spirits. I’ve also done all three of my Agape yoyos and my 3 Aoda yoyos(Miracle, Littles, Magic Pear Ball). I’m also contemplating siliconing all my Magic YoYos once I order the 4 models I don’t currently have.
My Sharp uses General Yo thin hat pads. I had one modified to make it accept silicone, the other I keep stock.
As far as red silicone lasting longer: it can be true. It’s a harder silicone than flowable yet still provides enough grip to make a really nice response. I prefer flowable, but red can be nice too, as can blue. For the cost, the red is a better value. It only costs a little bit more than flowable. Flowable is easier to use The gasket maker stuff isn’t that much harder to use though but it does take a different approach. I recommend people try both red and flowable and find what they like best. That’s all that matters.
What’s the problem about siliconing slim pad sized responses? Most yo-yos use the slim pad size. I silicone my Dark Magic 2 and other yo-yos with slim pad sized responses. I’ll think about getting red gasket maker silicone as well.
Do you use a business card or something to remove the excess? What string are you using? I have a Toxic dragon string and that just tore the crap out of my response. I also have been unable to break in that string and I’ve been playing it for like 2 months.
If you’re putting it in and waiting 24 hours for it to cure, you should be fine. My DM2 has been played darn near daily since CalStates with the silicone job I did on it and it’s holding up just fine.
Try red then and see if that works better for you. Worse case is you’re only out the cost of 2-3 response pad pairs.
Alright, thanks for clarifying more info. I’m using regular YoYoExpert Polyester string and I use an index card to carefully swipe off the excess. I really might want to think about getting red silicone too.