When do I clean my yoyo bearings?

Yo-Yo Mods and Maintenance
1

When do I clean my yoyo bearings?

1 Like
2

There’s a ton of info under the maintenance page.

But generally when mine sound like they have a lot of sand in them or start to get responsive is when I clean mine.

1 Like
3

Noise is a good indicator but some bearings and yoyos are just loud (looking at you Iceberg). If it is a gradual progression towards becoming responsive, then I do a tug test. Throw a stable sleeper of some sort and just tug straight up like you are trying to recall a responsive yoyo. If the bearing brings the string around the yoyo a whole revolution while it is in that zero g stall point, then I clean it. I have yet for a bearing to go full responsive in the middle of anything like this.

1 Like
4

Do not waste your valuable time. When it sounds or plays like you need to buy a new one: Buy a new one.

2 Likes
5

This is a good point- you kind of learn what’s an ok sound and what’s a time to clean sound over time and depending on the yo-yo/bearing.

6

Take a peek over here… Useful modification & maintenance guides -- clean, repair, tune, fix yoyos

1 Like
7

When you notice the bearing making more/different sounds or when it becomes responsive. Whichever comes first.

8

I clean a yoyo’s bearing whenever it falls into one of these three buckets:

  1. It starts responding when I don’t want it to.

  2. It’s gotten really loud. Almost wake the neighbors loud.

  3. Performance has suffered or become inconsistent. This can be lots of things. A feeling of grittiness or increased vibration. A usually subtle decrease in expected spintime or stability.