Machine oil + silicone oil = bubbles??

[Juggular 4964]

I noticed that E-clips were swimming in machine oil.  I saw mini-oil-rainbows on big silicone bubbles... I guess machine oil and silicone oil don't mix?  

It seems like 2 liters of air bubbles came out.  The silicone oil didn't sink down.  I leave it be for 10 minutes, it becomes crystal-clear.  I pump some, and it looks like I'm shaking up Sprite.  I've been repeating that for 2 hours now.  It's gotten better...  

Time for testing.  For the last 2 shocks, I washed e-clips, pistons, rods, even the shock body with alcohol.  They didn't bubble up.  I went back to the bubbly one, I replaced the oil.  Like nothing ever happened, no more bubbles.    

Could excessive machine oil make the silicone oil go all champagny?  Or was there some other contaminant that could do that?     

[TwistedxSlayer 1290]

Isn't machine oil mineral based and obviously silicon oil is silicon based? If that is the case... They defo do not mix.

[kwkenuf 184]

Yeah, they will not mix together without a specific binder, which is obviously is not present.  May I ask why you are mixing them?

[Juggular 4964]

I used oily e-clips all the time, so I didn't think much of it.  

And the first shock was fine. 

My second shock must've had more machine oil than usual on those e-clips.  

'Something got in the oil?' was what I thought. 

I didn't see what else could cause suds. 

Looking through the oil, little particles were all I could see. 

Like everything else, only later it occurred to me maybe machine oil should've been wiped clean. 

You'd think I'd know well enough to wipe off the machine oil by now.    

(read the first letters on each sentence, that's the reason why I didn't think to clean e-clips. the thing about knowledge is that when I don't have it, I don't know it. it only looks kinda silly in hindsight!) 

[wolfdogstinkus 1893]

What does it taste like?