YYF Spacers - Northstar, Protostar, Starbrite...... etc.

Yo-Yo Mods and Maintenance
1

So I, as many others, have experienced the pain in the rear that are the spacers in the various STAR throws from YYF; truly IMHO the only downside to these throws. I have searched for the magic answer as to cleanly seperating the spacer from the bearing, with no clear-cut ideal way. I managed to put some ugly nicks in the spacer (such soft metal) while forcing it apart.

So the question is how are you dealing with it? (Method)
I have seen the following:
Needle nose
Butter knife
Small, flat screw driver
Freezer

I’ve thought about going to the hardware store and looking for a plastic(nylon) scraper, acting like a wedge, hoping to not scar the spacer, anyone try this?

I’m not completely sure why the spacer has to be so tight, quite a few of my throws either have no spacer (built into the actual wall of yoyo) or it’s just not that tight. Which makes me wonder why YYF hasn’t rethought this spacer design.

For those who have been throwing for a while - why not nylon spacers? Would they wear out too soon? I ask because I know nylon spacers are better in Looping throws (replaced metal ones with nylon in my raiders, ironically with YYF Loop900 ones) - does this not work?

I really do enjoy my various STAR throws - just want to take care of them…

Oh, and for those out there that feel the need to take this opportunity to either bash YYF or give sage advise about buying OTHER throws instead… need not reply. Believe it or not I’m actually looking for help on the subject/question I’m actually talking about in my post.

2

I think YYF makes the yoyos like this on purpose so that way they can keep the body of the yoyo separate from the bearing and spacers. I would thing the yoyo half would be more expensive to produce than an inexpensive spacer. But yes, I have noticed how tight the bearings are to the spacer. They make lots of other yoyos, including full metals, that are super tight to the bearing seat. YYF claims this is for optimum performance.

I’m not sure about the best way to remove the stuff. I’m happy with how my Protostar and Northstar are, as well as my glowing DieNasty and have currently no need to take them apart. They are working and playing fine so I see no need to operate on them. I do see your whole maintenance angle though and I do agree with it.

My only concern about the nylon or plastic scraper is will it have a thin enough edge to be able to fit in that gap. If so, you’ve got hope. Just take your time working it around. The marks you left on your spacers should not affect play unless they are rising above the surface.

Then your idea about nylon spacers… well, the only bad part of that idea is finding proper sized spacers. I’m sure they exist.

I’m not going to bash YYF. They make decent stuff, they clearly know what they are doing. Sales must show people are pretty pleased with their stuff.

3

i just used pliers to pull em off if you dont wanna do that you could always just super glue the spacers in