Konkave Ceramic

Today I just bought a silver Shutter from my local yoyo store, Air Traffic at the MOA in Bloomington. I also ordered a Konkave Ceramic bearing from YoyoExpert that just came today. I took the Center Trac bearing from my silver Shutter and placed it onto my black Shutter that I already have. I placed the new Konkave Ceramic into the silver Shutter. Wow! Does the Konkave Ceramic blow away the Center Trac! It’s SOOOO SMOOTH!

It’s quite nice what a $30.00 bearing can do.

I feel that the Ceramic Dif e Yo’s are the nicest bearing there is right now. Second to that would be the Gold Center Trac’s from YoYoFactory.

I’m a big fan myself of premium bearings.

Glad you found an Airtraffic near you. I’ve never tried a ceramic bearing but they do sound nice

Thanks mate. The ceramic is a must try. After lubing both bearings, the Konkave ceramic was dead quite after several throws. The Center Trac doesn’t do that. It’s quite a bit to get used to the Konkave ceramic because it’s so silent, I’m used to playing with noise coming from my bearings whether it’s loud or quieter.

Have you lubed your ceramic? I’m pretty sure i’ve read here somewhere that you’re not supposed to do that, as the BBs swell up…
Please someone correct me if i’m wrong

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That is correct. I generally just clean them in acetone and blow them dry with a can of air.
And That’s It. :wink:

You do not use lube on the Ceramics, or the Gold Center Tracs. Jsut clean them with acetone and dry them with canned air…

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Thanks a bunch guys, had no idea it was that different from a regular bearing. Just cleaned it in acetone and will not lube it.

EDIT: It sounds like a pig without lube on, is this normal?

Yep.

Nevermind, the sound died off and started sounding quiet again.

Actually the lube doesn’t hurt them. Being ceramic they are pretty impervious to solvents and oil.

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Aaah! Now I am confused… I liked the way the lubricant played on my ceramic bearing. But now I have 3 people parting 2 ways, I don’t know which one is correct anymore.

They’re ceramic. Solvents and oils will not harm them. Lube will slow them down a bit depending on how much you apply. That is all…

I would show you the Dif-e-yo page about it but the web site seems to be down at the moment.

Thanks a bunch mate. The Konkave ceramic bearing is quiet again after several more throws. I thought it would squeek like a pig every time since it wasn’t lubed. Guess that is not the case. I will keep it dry without lube from now on.

Air traffic, that sounds familiar …
That’s the official US retail of Henry skill toys right?

I never knew they had that title but they do carry quite a few henrys skill toys and lots of other stuff

For ceramic bearings, I also heard that you may lube them but because they’re ceramic the only reason to do this is to reduce noise. It’s not for increasing the life of it like regular bearings.

There is a vendor of ceramic/steel bearings who would have you believe that you “shouldn’t” lube them, when in fact it’s just that you “don’t have to”.

Just as with steel, lube can increase the life of the bearing. More importantly for me, it makes it quieter.

However-- many people “upgrade” to the ceramic mainly for spin time… although it’s at a microscopic level, the surface difference between the balls and races results in less friction for half- or full-ceramic bearings.

Add lube to that, and you’ve reduced your marginal gains by a marginal amount. :wink:

Quietest bearing I’ve ever used was an NSK platinum… with a bit of lube, despite being “told” not to use any. I bucked conventional wisdom and produced a bearing that I simply could not tell was spinning. At all. I had to clean out the lube just to make it usable again (ie. I wanted to hear or feel at least a whisper!). Haha!

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It’s back…

Lube:

(Ref: Dif-e-Yo Yo-Yo's)

Cleaning:

(Ref: Dif-e-Yo Yo-Yo's)

(Your opinion may differ)

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You guys are the best! thanks! Now peace to my mind. I guess I shall drop the tiniest lube on it, maybe after cleaning it.

I accidentally lubed a few of my ceramic/steel bearings when I cleaned them with a new air compressor. They played nicely, but they needed to be cleaned with more than air after they got dirty. I have never bothered so they have all been dirty for years even though I clean them with air still. I like the knuckle smashes and the screaming banshee noises. They give me power.