Does different WT Silicon Oil Separate

[Gazzman]

Ok, so here's the question. Does silicon shock oil of different weights separate if mixed together?. The reason I am asking is that the other day I was adding a set of limiters to a set of savage shocks which i know had new oil in them, these were a set of the 8 shocks that come with the Savage SS kit from HPI. now these shocks have not been used and in as new condition filled with the original oil HPI filled them with from the factory. They have never been used. As I was low on shock oil I decided to keep the oil from these shocks I am assuming it is somewhere between 10 & 30wt, looked more like 30wt. Poured the oil into a bottle that had some 50wt already in it, after a couple of hours I noticed the separation due to the colour. The clear oil at the bottom is the 50wt and the darker oil which came from the shocks is on top. Although the oil from the shocks is darker in colour I can assure you it is new and clean. If I shake the bottle up with in an hour the result is the same. Have mixed oils before but have never notched this before as all the oils have been clear in colour.

 

[Jam 1]

Yep, silicone oils do this, it is not like mixing fossil oil, I am sure it will separate inside the shocks as well until the suspension cycles a few times to mix them up, I would think mixing like you did is not going to be a good idea....

 

[Gazzman]

Yep, silicone oils do this, it is not like mixing fossil oil, I am sure it will separate inside the shocks as well until the suspension cycles a few times to mix them up, I would think mixing like you did is not going to be a good idea....

Hiya Jamo, Yes thought as much, like I said never seen this before and had a feeling different wt. oils would do this. But like you say after a couple of suppression cycles it will mix back up. So being as I am a tight arse and not known to throw anything away, I will keep it and will use it, as all my trucks are shelf queens and are lucky only to see acouple of laps of the local park before getting shelved again. Will never get used for what they are built for, 1st class sado anorak here. LOL.
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[Sandblaster]

All silicone oil I have used and seen is crystal clear. Do no think that is silicone oil. Looks more like petroleum oil of some kind. Does not look like anything I would want to use in shocks. What oil was used before silicone oil? And yes have read it is not a good ideal to mix silicone oils. Read were some pro's do so at a track to get what they want. Those are short time used, not something to leave in a used car. Caster oil comes to mind as an oil that maybe used????? Need something that will not attack plastic, so regular oil I a big no no. A synethic oil should work if you are looking for something to fill the shocks to set on a shelf. A bottle of silicone fills a set of shocks so not expensive.

 

[Gazzman]

All silicone oil I have used and seen is crystal clear. Do no think that is silicone oil. Looks more like petroleum oil of some kind. Does not look like anything I would want to use in shocks. What oil was used before silicone oil? And yes have read it is not a good ideal to mix silicone oils. Read were some pro's do so at a track to get what they want. Those are short time used, not something to leave in a used car. Caster oil comes to mind as an oil that maybe used????? Need something that will not attack plastic, so regular oil I a big no no. A synethic oil should work if you are looking for something to fill the shocks to set on a shelf. A bottle of silicone fills a set of shocks so not expensive.

Hi Sandblaster, Yes like you all silicone oils I have seen have been crystal clear, I think it could be castor oil, it does seem to have a similar odour to some caster oil I have here just not as pungent.
As for the mixing of silicone oils it would appear from trawling the web that it is quite acceptable to does this and once mixed it does not separate back to its original viscosities. You can use the silicone oil calculator below to mix what viscosity you what.
It would appear from the Gelest PDF document listed below that you can add dye to silicone oil, reference to this is on page 15 & blending on page 30.
https://scriptasylum.com/rc_speed/oil_mixer.html


This info is from a document on Gelest Inc.
https://www.gelest.com/wp-content/uploads/Goods-PDF-brochures-inert_silicones_2013.pdf

 

[Sandblaster]

This is one of those subjects with lots of different views. The mix crowd seems to be more of the racers who want a certain weight for a certain track and do not carry ALL the different weights, they mix at the track. For most users this is not necessary seems to be agreed on. And have read both ways on the different weights separating or not. It is another small side of the hobby that is more art than science I think. This goes right along with What brand is best? Endless discussions.

 

[Gazzman]

All silicone oil I have used and seen is crystal clear. Do no think that is silicone oil. Looks more like petroleum oil of some kind. Does not look like anything I would want to use in shocks. What oil was used before silicone oil? And yes have read it is not a good ideal to mix silicone oils. Read were some pro's do so at a track to get what they want. Those are short time used, not something to leave in a used car. Caster oil comes to mind as an oil that maybe used????? Need something that will not attack plastic, so regular oil I a big no no. A synethic oil should work if you are looking for something to fill the shocks to set on a shelf. A bottle of silicone fills a set of shocks so not expensive.

@Sandblaster. Thought this was interesting today. Had another set of small bore HPI shocks apart today to add some limiter and was surprised to find the same weird oil in them. These shocks came from a totally different source to the other set but do seem to have the same oil in them. It to separates when mixed with silicon oils I use now, would be very interested to find out what it is. Maybe HPI used to use sommit else back in the day. As you can see, it's still pretty clean and yet has that caster oil colour to it.
Just posting this as a matter of interest. Just curios as to what it is.👍
Looks abit like Tamiya Damper Oil.

 

[Sandblaster]

It could be dye in the oil that gives the color. Tamiya uses different colors for different weights. Caster oil does burn. Has been used in lamps for since old, old times. Be an interesting test to see if the oil will burn or not. Could be a test to tell what kind of oil it is.

 

[Gazzman]

It could be dye in the oil that gives the color. Tamiya uses different colors for different weights. Caster oil does burn. Has been used in lamps for since old, old times. Be an interesting test to see if the oil will burn or not. Could be a test to tell what kind of oil it is.

Yes see Tamiya use colour for different wt. oils.
That's an interesting thought about burning it, will give it a try later and let you know the out come. Don't have any lamps but do have some wicks I could dip in it. Nice thinking.👍

 

[Gazzman]

@Sandblaster, well did the test and as you can see from the photos it burned nicely, been burning now for a good hour now. Burns clean, no black soot from the flame. did the same test with some Core-RC silicone oil and as excepted with a flash point of over 300°C would not ignite from a flame. Did the same test with a mix of Silicone & this oil and again could not get it to stay a light. Burnt for a little while but then went out. So the out come is it isn't Silicone Oil. Still don't know what but a step closer. Thanks for your input, wouldn't have thought about setting it a light. LOL. 👌👍

 

[Sandblaster]

The question then, What did they use before silicone? Memory says castor oil was used for a lot of things, think it was used in the fuel mix for two cycle aircraft motors by a very distant memory.

And the way it burns one can see why it was used in lamps for thousand of years. The at some point whale oil became popular.

 

[Gazzman]

The question then, What did they use before silicone? Memory says castor oil was used for a lot of things, think it was used in the fuel mix for two cycle aircraft motors by a very distant memory.

Yes defo used in 2 strokes bud, that's what gave Castrol R racing oil the lovely smell it had. Used to use it myself just for the smell. In saying that this oil didn't give off any smell at all, so thanks for raising another question in my head LOL 😕. Have trawled the web for what was used in RC shocks prior to Silicone oil but as yet have had no joy. Not that it's important just that I like to know the answers to un-answered questions. Will keep looking, sure the answer is out there somewhere, just need to ask Google the right questions. Thanks anyway for your input, much appreciated.👍👍.

 

[Jam 1]

Back in the late 80's and early 90's I raced alot of dirt oval and offroad stuff, in my dirt oval car I used 85-140 fluids for 1/1 rearend oils in the rear shocks and standard motor oils in the front shocks, as I remember back then (ya I am that old) most shock fluids were based on automotive oils to a large extent before silicone oils came onto the racing scene from Losi and Associated and Tamiya...

 

[Gazzman]

Back in the late 80's and early 90's I raced alot of dirt oval and offroad stuff, in my dirt oval car I used 85-140 fluids for 1/1 rearend oils in the rear shocks and standard motor oils in the front shocks, as I remember back then (ya I am that old) most shock fluids were based on automotive oils to a large extent before silicone oils came onto the racing scene from Losi and Associated and Tamiya...

Hiya Jamo, 1st hope you had a good Chrimbo on your own. But do you think you would find that sort of oil in not one but two sets of Savage shocks both coming from different seller. I find this strange mate. As if they had the original oil it would only date back to no later than 2002 when the 21 came out. Now I know one set was as new from an early SS 25 model which was put back in it's box acouple of weeks after it was purchased as I know the original owner and the reason it was re-boxed being due to the flywheel coming loose from the crankshaft and him not having the knowledge how to get the clutch bell back off to fix. So I am sure that set had the original oil in them as the shocks came oil filled on the SS to the best of my knowledge.