So what I ended up doing was soaking the new bearings in something similar to WD-40, but it was a generic lubricant that comes in a spray can that I bought at Wal mart. This is really good stuff. Those bearings are freed up now. I put them back in and then added a few drops of 3 in 1 dry lube. That really made them spin! So now my Iris anemometer is more responsive and the wind isn't even moving today. I really like that you can work on these Acurites instead of just throwing them away and keep buying new tops.