Maintenance
Cleaning Bearings
Why clean a bearing?
Often bearings will collect lube, bits of string, dirt, hair, and whatever else can find its way into the gap of a yo-yo. Over time, this accumulation of debris will start to decrease sleep times and detract from the performance of the yo-yo. When this starts to happen, it is time to clean the bearing. Cleaning the bearing well will remove the unwanted debris, as well as dry the bearing of any lube you put on it.
What is the best cleaner?
Many people use many different things to clean their bearings. The most common is Isopropyl Alcohol; another is lighter fluid. Both of these are inexpensive, come in large quantities, and you should be able to find them around the house. Other people may use nail polish remover, Goo Gone, or even sonic jewelry cleaners.
How do I do it?
The easiest way is to pour a little bit of alcohol into a small container, and let it soak for a while. Shake it a couple times, to get the stuff out, then take it out. It should be pretty clean, although it takes a couple cycles to get it completely clean. NOTE: If you use Isopropyl Alcohol of a low concentration, such as 70%, it will rust your bearing after a while. Keep an eye on it, and don't leave it in there too long.
What good does it do?
Cleaning a bearing cleans out all the junk that has accumulated - but it also cleans out the lube. Thus a yo-yo will sleep longer but not respond as well after having its bearing cleaned. If it needs lube to respond, then you will need to lube it again afterward. Also, really clean bearings tend to make noise and "scream" rather loudly. Part of the "scream" is the balls slipping around the race, which is not a good thing. If this bothers you, then lube it - the noise will go away and that will be fixed.
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Lubing Bearings
Why lube a bearing?
A lot of people think that lubricating a bearing will make it spin longer. In this case, however, lubing a yo-yo makes it respond better. Provided you use a viscous lube, it will shorten the sleep time a little and increase response. It provides friction in the bearing, which effectively slows it down and makes it more likely to "catch," bringing the yo-yo back up to your hand. This is often a necessity for two-handed looping yo-yos.
What is the best lube?
A lot of people use Vaseline Lip Therapy, however there is no best lube; different lubes serve different purposes. Pictured here are several different types of lube. For string trick yo-yos, you may want to use a less viscous lube, so as to not decrease the sleep time by too much. The outer two, Brain Lube and Super Lube oil, work well for this. The others pictured are, left to right, Super Lube grease, Vaseline Lip Therapy (the most popular), white lithium grease (in the syringe),and plain Vaseline (in this case, Chapstick brand). These tend to work better on looping yo-yos, as they decrease sleep time fairly significantly. Try different kinds for your purposes, you may find something that works better for you. You can get a free sample of Super Lube from www.super-lube.com.
How do I do it?
Applying lube is easy. The goal is to get some lube in between the bearing and the spacers. What works well is to take off the bearing, squeeze some lube onto the axle, then slide the bearing back on. Put some lube on the other side of the bearing, and screw the yo-yo together. If you used too much, and some squeezes out onto the outside of the bearing, wipe it off; don't get any on the string.
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Permalube
Permalube is very, very cool. It's a way to heavily lube yo-yos, semi-permanently, and it works very well for loopers and two-handed yo-yos. I have done this to a pair of Tornados, and they are now the best two-handed yo-yos I have ever played with.
All you need is a plastic sandwich bag and some scissors. Other people have recommended other plastic bags, or even foil ketchup packets... they are done the same way. Cut a small donut shape out of the plastic - the outer diameter of the plastic should be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the bearing, and the inner diameter should be slightly larger than the bearing's inner diameter. I cut two circles and put them both on one side of the bearing, you can put them on both sides or vary the number depending on how much response you want. Put them between the bearing and spacers, in the same place you'd normally put lube. That's all there is to it! They should provide a lot of response, this mod is recommended for loopers, not string trick yo-yos.
A picture will be provided shortly, if anyone asks for it.
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Restoring an adjustable gap
Why mess with it?
Sometimes the gap on a yo-yo will 'slip' after enough play. It starts out nice and tight, but then slowly loses its grip from being unscrewed and screwed together so many times. When this happens, sometimes the gap width will change simply from the yo-yo hitting the ground or your hand. If you notice your yo-yo's gap not holding its place, keep reading.
What can I do?
The best and easiest thing to do is to put some Locktite on the axle. Locktite is a blue substance that starts out as a liquid, but then gets firmer when you put it on something. It is intended to be used on the threads of screws to make them hold tighter. Just put a couple drops on the axle, screw the yo-yo back together, and let it sit for a while. It should be more difficult to screw and unscrew after that. Locktite comes under several different names... pictured here is Pro Lok, which is the same thing. Ask a friendly sales representative in your local hardware store and they'll know what you're talking about. The alternative is to get some plumber's tape and put it on the axle. Plumber's tape is a teflon tape that you would wrap around the axle to thicken the threads. I have never tried it and don't know where to get it, but it might be worth a try.
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Making turbo discs
Why make turbo discs?
Turbo discs take the place of starbursts and provide response and smooth string play. It is inexpensive and easy to make your own.
How do I make them?
Buy a roll of self-adhesive medical tape from a grocery store or drugstore. I use 3M "Durapore" tape, which is pictured here. The easiest way to cut out a turbo disc is to cut a square piece of the tape, then fold it in half and cut a square out of the middle. I don't see any reason to cut them in circles, other than aesthetics, and that would take a thousand times longer. Save yourself the pain and energy and just cut them square, they should play just as well. Place the turbo disc on the inside of one of the yo-yo halves, going around the bearing well. Put another on the other half if you want. Sometimes a full turbo disc is too much; in that case, try putting just one dot on one half. An applied turbo disc is shown here:


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Making performance rings
Why make Performance Rings?
Performance Rings do the same thing as Turbo Discs, but they are thicker, provide more friction, and they last longer.
How do I make them?
Materials:
  • Rubbermaid Tub Treads (about $3 at Wallmart, in the Rubbermaid section)
  • A big blue paper puncher (about $2, found at the craft section at Walmart)
  • A regular silver paper puncher (about $1, found about anywhere)
Stick a Tub Tread into the Big Blue Puncher (may be a tight squeeze). Then you just step on the puncher, and a circle will pop out : ) [If you don't have or can't find this puncher, you can cut circles by hand with scissors, or trace a dime and cut with scissors.]
Next, you have to use the Regular Puncher to punch out the middle part of the Tub Tread Circle, so it will fit over the bearing. So you just put the circle into the puncher, and punch a progressively bigger hole, until it will fit over the bearing without rubbing against it.
Now you just peel the backing off of one or two of 'em, and stick them into your yo-yo! If you use only one, put it on the non-axle side.
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Tips for Brake Pads (BPT)
I don't know a whole lot about BPT, so a big thanks to Wild Jimbo and ZenYoYo for helping me with this section. If you have more BPT tips, please email them to me!
  • When in doubt, change the pads.
  • There are two kinds of pads: regular (thick) and Stunt Pilot (thin). The thin ones last at least twice as long; they take less time to break in and stay in the "sweet spot" for most of the life of the pad.
  • From that point, changing one at a time seems to work. This cuts down on break-in time yet still brings up the response level. This is less effective with Stunt Pilot pads. ZenYoYo uses a pen to make a dot on the one he doesn't change, so he knows to change it next time.
  • Pushing the pads toward the bearing will improve response a little in worn pads... though the teeth seem to prevent this in some yo-yos. This is less effective with Stunt Pilot pads.
  • Remember that it's not the side of the pad that makes it work - it's the tips. Once the tips are gone, the pads are shot. The side does assist in good "winds."
  • A drop of very light oil on the bearing, like reel oil or brain lube, will extend the life of the pads considerably.
  • When response has dropped off, take a round instrument, like the cap from a pen, and push from the outside edge of the pad to the tip of the fingers. The idea being that the tips of the fingers are what wears out and pushing in like this fattens them up a bit.
  • You can carefully pull the pad out and rotate it a couple of "teeth" and put it back in. This will help "fluff" the pad and give a bit more life.
  • For old Stunt Pilots that don't have teeth and Aces, when installing the pad, cut it at one of the notches (so it's no longer a continuous circle), then install the pad to the outside of the pad area.
  • Since Cold Fusions spin so much faster and carry much more inertia, the regular pads don't last as long. Try stacking two Stunt Pilot pads in place of each normal pad - results are promising.
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Polishing aluminum yo-yos
Why polish a yo-yo?
To remove fingerprints, tarnish, and just make it look better.
What should I use?
The SB2 manual recommends Nevr-Dull Magic Wadding polish, it leaves the yo-yo looking shiny and new. Personally I find it a little abrasive; I use brass polish (also recommended in the sb2 manual). Do not use these to polish anodized aluminum, as they make strip the anodization.
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Weight a yo-yo for sleeping and looping
Sleeping
Rim-weighted yo-yos will sleep longer, plain and simple. The design of the sb2 is a good example... the sides are hollow and all the weight is on the rims. To increase sleep time in a yo-yo, add weight to the rims. Several yo-yos, most notably Team Losi and the SB2, come with weight rings that can be added to the rims (pictured). Otherwise you can make them.
Looping
Center-weighted yo-yos flip easier, and are thus preferable for looping tricks. Center weight does not increase sleep time significantly. A good example of a center-weighted yo-yo is the Russell. It has a large plastic hub on the center of each side, then small rims. Team Losi yo-yos come with center weights (pictured).
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Making weights
Rim weights
At a hardware store or surplus store you can probably find large o-rings (pictured at top) that make decent rim weights, though they are quite light. A better idea is wire; pictured on the left is several circles of wire wrapped in black tape that I use in my TL Cherry Bomb. On the right is a couple circles of rubber coated wire... there's a couple pieces of tape wrapped around them so they will fit snugly in a yo-yo and not rattle around.
Center weights
I have not found much need for center weights that cannot be filled with TL center weights, but a metal washer can be used if you need something heavier (pictured bottom center).
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Freehand weights
What's the best freehand weight?
There is no best... try different weights to see what feels best to you. Steve Brown uses cancelled casino dice. Other people have used bouncy balls, paddleballs, and even mini yo-yos. To use a die, you need to drill a hole through it and tie the string on. The same goes for bouncy balls; however, the string has a tendency to cut through the ball. To combat this, you'll need to either put eyelets on each side of the ball (as pictured), or put the string through a piece of tubing that goes through the hole in the ball. I personally like to use a bouncy ball because there are several tricks where you can bounce the ball off the floor, walls, etc., but I keep cutting them so I use dice. Dice are harder on your hands, however, so it's a tradeoff. Try several different things until you find what's right for you.
Here's a few more good pointers from Chasm (spencer):