Possible Aluminum contamination in mild steel weld

I have mild steel coated with aluminum paint that I need to weld.

I one instance it is an old construction that needs to be repaired. It has a coat of aluminum paint over painted with normal gloss paint. I intend to do a reasonable paint removing job before I fix the cracked welds and add some more braces.

I also have reasonably clean steel coated with a light layer of aluminum paint. The owner had it cleaned and painted to prevent rust formation during storage. The project was interrupted for a while.

How thorough do I have to clean the aluminum paint. It seems a little bit of aluminum 'contamination' in a steel welds do not affect the steel welds.

I intend to use 6013 electrodes or would you guys recommend

6010 or 6011 or possible other electrodes for the task.

Gerhard van den Berg

Reply to
Gerhard
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I usually remove paint by burning with a cutting torch. Using a very robust torch setting, travel slowly along the weld area, then buff with a wire brush. If necessary, repeat.

If you experience bubbling in the paint adjacent to the weld during repair, buff before it cools to leave the smoothest possible surface for repainting.

Reply to
Elliot G

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