# What is yo-yo vibe and how do I test for it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Yo-Yo Mods and Maintenance\ **Created:** [August 12, 2018, 12:27am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-yo-yo-vibe-and-how-do-i-test-for-it/291714 "2018-08-12T00:27:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 1
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/codinghorror/32/8052_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 12:27am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-yo-yo-vibe-and-how-do-i-test-for-it/291714/1 "2018-08-12T00:27:10Z")
> 📣 Unless you feel your yo-yo has a serious problem in play, **it’s unlikely you need to worry about vibe on any new, undamaged yoyo**. Most modern yo-yos are _exceptionally_ smooth because the quality of manufacturing is so high today, and vibe is nowhere near as common as it used to be 10 or 20 years ago! ### What is yo-yo vibe? It’s when the two halves of the yo-yo are mismatched in - weight distribution - alignment … resulting in vibration when the yo-yo is spinning. [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/yoyoexpert1/original/4X/7/0/c/70cf9004a22c5100c365dc97510fdfe99a8d5e9b.jpeg "Super Slow-Mo Yoyo Vibe Tests") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lybp9wAEeaA) If each yo-yo half is aligned perfectly flat against each other, and the weight is evenly distributed in each half, no vibe should be present. ### What causes vibe? - Damage is a big one. Slam your throw into the concrete enough and it may introduce vibe because the axle or bearing seat gets bent! Dings and damage on each half [don’t matter much](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-yo-yo-vibe-and-how-do-i-test-for-it/291714/6), except insofar as they are evidence that the axle and/or bearing seat are now damaged. - Materials. Some materials cannot be machined with the precision of metal, especially wood, and to a lesser extent plastic, and are inherently going to have a bit more vibe. This is normal. Also note that bimetal or trimetal yoyos add more variables to the mix for metal yo-yos. - Manufacturing variance. No matter how good the manufacturing is, there may be minute differences in the materials used, the machining, or rare contaminants. People and even machines sometimes make mistakes! ### Testing for vibe 1. Throw a hard sleeper 2. Place your fingernail [on the rim](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/loaded-yoyos-how-to-test-for-vibe/42094), or in the gap 3. Let the yo-yo stabilize for 2-3 seconds against your fingernail If there is significant vibe you will feel it (and hear it) on your fingernail. I personally like to hold my fingernail in the gap so it smooths out any “fake vibe” from my crappy throws, like so: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/yoyoexpert1/original/4X/a/d/a/ada12aafbd23afe370f94b95ae0cc1efe50f7abd.jpeg) with your fingernail held in the gap for a few seconds after a hard throw … - On a really smooth yo-yo, you will feel no vibration at all – it’s **like an air hockey puck sliding across a perfectly smooth gap of air on an air hockey table**. Ahhhh 🤤 - On a vibey yo-yo, the metal in the gap will never fully stabilize against your fingernail – it’ll bounce and shake around and never rest smoothly against your nail, instead clanging against it constantly. > 📣 A bit of vibe isn’t the end of the world! There’s no reason to obsess over vibe too much unless it’s actively interfering with your play – a little vibe is plenty playable, and “perfect” isn’t necessary. ### When should I be concerned about vibe? - If the yo-yo is visibly wobbling on the string on every throw (in the same way). - If the vibration is so severe that it interferes with normal play because the yo-yo is unstable on the string. - “Pulse” or “Harmonic” vibration where the vibration is not constant, but happens in repeating patterns. ### “Fixing” vibe > ⚠ It’s not usually possible to fix vibe since vibe depends how balanced and aligned the two halves of the yo-yo are. However, you _might_ be able to improve it if the axle or bearing is a factor. In order of difficulty and cost: - flip the axle around and thread it into the other side - flip the bearing around - clean and/or lubricate the bearing - replace the axle with a different or new axle - use teflon tape on the axle to make it thread tighter (if threads are becoming loose or stripped) - replace the bearing with a different or new bearing [reference video 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnzVyfauNTc), [reference video 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiPhLUqT5KA), [reference video 3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O91kMeaQJw8) --- _[View the full topic](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/what-is-yo-yo-vibe-and-how-do-i-test-for-it/291714)._