what are your thoughts on lube?

[Ilikestring]

i just put some yyj thin on my dv888 to test some out but i dont feel any difference. ive been yoyoing for three years and i feel like i should know if lube is important so here are my questions.
1.) is lube good or bad for your bearings life
2.) do you play wet or dry?
3.) is thin lube good for two a?

[vegabomb]

1.) I'd assume it would prolong bearing life. I've no examples of that though.
2.) I play my bearings dry.
3.) Not sure. I would think so but... not sure.

i just put some yyj thin on my dv888 to test some out but i dont feel any difference.

Was the bearing clean and dry before you lubed it? A clean dry bearing will play differently than a bearing with lube in it. At first at least.

[Ilikestring]

yup it was cleaned and dried but i only used two drops

[vegabomb]

I guess what I mean is when you say you don't feel any difference, did you ever try playing it cleaned and dry?

[fzzyrn]

1. i'm pretty sure it does, no scientific basis, though.
2. I keep my bearings lubed, if only to prevent that screeching noise. A little responsiveness doesnt bother me.
3. Thick lube is much preferred because it gets the yoyo more responsive, which is desirable for 2a

[Ilikestring]

yes i played my yoyo dry for like a year and then i just put some thin lube today and it
still plays the same. it even sounds the same lol

[fzzyrn]

Huh. I've always found lubed bearings to be somewhat quieter in the long run.

[Ilikestring]

yeah my yoyos are all super loud so i was gonna buy some lube but i remembered that joseph harris had given me some so i found it and put it on in hopes of a quieter yoyo. but oh well do you think it will get quieter after
a day or two?

[fzzyrn]

how much do you put? I douse my bearings in thin lube, and it usually quiets down within 5 mins.

[elMalo]

Compared to most people I use a ridiculous amount of lube on my bearings. Every guide I see pretty much states less is more. "Put a toothpick tip amount of lube is what I usually see" Which I've tried and for me that's been a load of poo. What I do is take my little bottle of YYJ thin lube take it directly to the bearing at put like 4-5 drops straight from the bottle. Sure, it's a tad bit responsive, but it's quiet and if you play your yoyo enough it breaks in quite nicely pretty quickly. I'll sacrifice 100% unresponsiveness for a quiet bearing any day.

[theTopo]

I've only used OD V4M. I usually put a drop on  needle and touch that to the balls in the bearing. I've found that for most bearings it quietens them down, but some bearings seem to stay loud regardless. Even using this small amount of lube it often makes the yo-yo slightly responsive but that disappears after continuous play, sometimes a few minutes, sometimes an hour or even more. I also find adding lube will occasionally make some bearings seem to play a little smoother.

From what I've read adding lube is meant to prolong bearing life, but I haven't really heard dry bearings dying all that often.

[Narced]

I haven't been throwin a yoyo very long, however when i put a couple drops of lube on my bearings it quiets it down enough so that i can throw it in the living room and not piss off my wife and kid watching tv.
First, are you taking off the shields and cleaning your bearings in paint thinner or some type of acetone?  Second, are you blowing the bearing out with. Compressed air. Third, are your bearings ate up enough that they just wont quiet down.

[Ilikestring]

hmmm ill try putting some more on because i have the same problem as narced with the whole family watching tv thing

[Boyen]

It makes a big difference in noise. Lube is just that, have you ever tried using a car or bicycle without lube? You don't need science to understand that without lube it will rust faster and additionally have more resistance. The metal part can be oxidated (rust) even without contact with water, though the process is slow depending on how humid your area is.

Now if you use thick lube it will slow it down because ithas resistance from the lube, but thin lube shouldn't have that problem.

[Narced]

It was early and i was just waking up when i responded to your post. If you've been using the same bearing for a year without lube, I have to assume that even if you do use a little thin lube your bearing is gonna be a little louder. All that wear of metal against metal has to have worn down the bearing. It wouldn't surprise me if the balls were a little pitted from normal wear n tear and corrosion just from never being lubed. I haven't even been throwning a year, but i've delt with bearings and other things to take a good guess.
  Maybe it's time to pick up a new bearing? Seems to me that the bearing isn't going to quiet down too much due to the wear it's seen being dry n all.   I'm a cheap ---- who uses paint thinner, an air compressor, and sewing machine oil. Seems to work fine fir me. Then again, what do i know? 
Oh, i just got a 10 ball bearing. Talk about being quiet!

[rizki_yoist]

I personally put 2-3 drops of oil for sewing machine or any semi-thick oil I can find, then play it responsive for few minutes. After that I dunk it in gasoline or mineral spirit once or twice, then let it dry. Usually the bearing is still slightly responsive and needs few hours of play to break it up. If it's still too responsive, I dunk it again once or twice to reduce responsiveness. That's how I tune my bearing.
I wouldn't try to clean my already non-responsive bearing, I usually let it stock. Sometimes cleaning just ruin the bearing itself.