Lube?

Did lubed Shutter 1,2 days ago and there was no different in performance. I thought that I should lube it again because thought I wiped the lube too quickly after putting it in and now suddenly it almost too silent like the bearing is not working. Do you think that the lube is breaking now becauae after lubed it played with it for 1or 2 hours? Its a Dif E Yo Konkave bearing.

To lube or not to lube me thinks that is the question here…

okay unless the yoyo is screeching louder then a cat in heat i don’t think you need to lube it. Most yoyos play fine with just the factory lube and will stay that way for about a year depending on how you play. Now lubing two hours right after you lube is a bad decision you could actually ruin the bearing by letting it float in the lube not to count that the bearing my sling lube on your brakes and make them very slippery. another thing is not to put to much lube on it just a dab will do you and if you pour the stuff on it can have detrimental effects. again just put a dab on a que tip and lightly roll it over the bearings if your bearing is de-shielded. if your bearing is not just put a very small drop on the side plate of the bearing and spin the bearing slowly back and forth to moisten the little guys in there.

I think you should leave them as is, you’re overthinking it.
Don’t expect miracles, at best lube will just make bearings last longer and perform more quietly. I even think that lube actually always reduce spin time a bit (except dry lube), and even if you do get more spin times, it’s most likely not even noticeable in general play.
Personally I usually don’t lube my bearings (for anything other than 2a).

rizki is right: liquid lube will ALWAYS reduce spin time, assuming a functioning bearing. If the bearing’s getting locked up, lube could help that not happen… but if it’s happening, the races are probably already galled and the bearing isn’t worth keeping anyhow. :wink:

When the bearing is so quiet that it’s like it’s not working, it’s just heavily lubed. It will “work” fine although it will probably be responsive (don’t do any Ninja Vanish tricks!). If you’re not worried about the responsiveness, enjoy the silence.

Yes the bearing was pretty loud and I haven’t lubed it for a while that’s why I lubed it. And its not responsive. And obviously I over lubed it.

I didnt lubed it after 2 hours of lubing I just thought that should I lube it again as it was still loud.

If it’s not responsive, you didn’t over-lube it. :slight_smile: If my yoyo isn’t at least a tiny bit responsive after lube, I’m always, “Did I put enough? Did it get in there?” Haha!

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Rather than doing all the cleaning, is it okay to buy new bearings to use instead? I know it’ll be more expensive but all the bearing cleaning seems pretty scary and time consuming.

It’s not scary and takes all of 30 seconds to do a basic cleaning.

Sure, you could just buy new bearings. Note that some new bearings come lubed, and other bearings will get cruddy right out of the box within a few moments and then need cleaning or breaking in (OD 10-balls are notorious for this).

Just clean. It’s easy.

It’s just scary that you clean it with flammable substances and need to wear protective goggles.

You’re over thinking this. It’s really trivial. The amount you need is miniscule. Not overtly hazardous. There’s more inherent risk in crossing the street.

There are also other options. Bio-green isn’t flammable and I wouldn’t bother with goggles.

Lighter fluid is (obviously) flammable, but it’s not violently explosive. People don’t refill their lighters by donning protective goggles, and they carry a device (the lighter itself) that can ignite the fluid… in their pants pocket. :wink:

When I use acetone, it’s agitated in a sealed container. If I was stirring or sloshing in an open container, I might want goggles… but since the container is sealed, I don’t bother. I’m not saying that’s the National Safety Organization’s recommendation; just saying that if you’re careful you don’t need to treat this like you’re handling anthrax…

Definitely overthinking it.

If you’re SUPER worried, a bit of soap and water (and agitate the bearing… shaking in a sealed container is a good way to do that) for one pass, and then another pass of plain water (people recommend distilled if you can get it, but it’s not the end of the world…) to rinse out the detergent. Dry it by spinning it to eject the excess water, and then spin it more while drying it with a hair dryer. Don’t blow into it, your spit will get in there.

This stuff isn’t hard, dangerous, or time-consuming.

Lubing correctly is not easy IMO.
I think a whole drop is way too much. That will most likely decrease spin times and that’s what many people experience and don’t like.
I started lubing with a little brush, like this video (I don’t use gorillious tho)


I just put a drop on my brush and touch all the bearings I want to lube, sometimes I touch them twice slightly on opposed sides.
It needs about 15 minutes of spinning/play to break in and then you shouldn’t touch it for a while unless it is responsive or gritty or sticky.