Welding floors in a 48' refer. trailer

[Hobart Expert Rock]

ARCBURN........ DO WE KNOW WHAT TYPE OF INSULATION IS IN THE REEFER'S.......... I'VE DONE DUMP TRAILERS BUT NEVER A REEFER......... HAVE WE CONSIDERED ANY PREHEAT OF THE NEW AND OLD ALUMINUM YET.....................?.........ROCK..........
[email protected],

[Arc Burn]

I just e-mailed Great Dane(probably have to call) and asked what alloy series they used and what the insulation is in it.

As far as preheat,i just don't know at this point?The new panels going in are gonna be a 5000 series aluminum,heck,i'm still debating on wire?

[Franz]

Arc Burn, a question that comes to my mind is cleaning.
The overall consensus among guys who like to keep their aluminum trailers shiney is that ZEP makes the best concentrated aluminum cleaner around. They just spray it on and follow it with a pressure washer, and have a shiney new looking aluminum trailer.
I know the company says all they haul is produce, but in my experience, produce haulers are always looking for backhauls, and that could mean those boxes have had a lot of things spilled in them.
Just figured I'd throw it out there for your knowledge accumulation.

[Jerry]

I would think that pre-heating will not be needed here when your talking about 3/16" aluminum.

When is job scheduled ?

Yes watch the ventilation , years back when I welded mig aluminum I worked at General Electric as a welder, and they would have us weld mig alum. only once every two weeks, not really sure why so seldom, but maybe we only had 10 welders

[Guest]

I don't know, Jerry, we had weldors working 14 hours a day for months on a gov't boat contract....the worst part was getting flashed not only by the guy next to you , but the reflection off the bulkhead behind you. For that, the guys had rags taped to the top of the helmet to drape down over the back side.

[Sberry]

Is it a ventilation system or refrigeration system ?

[Hobart Expert Rock]

ARCBURN.......THE REASON I MENTIONED PREHEAT WAS TO CHASE THE MOISTURE OUT OF THE METAL........ KEEPING IN MIND THIS IS A REEFER AND SHE GETS DOWN BELOW FREEZING WHEN HAULING PRODUCE (FROZEN) AND ICE DOES FORM ON THE INSIDE'S........... MOISTURE IS GOING TO PLAY A ROLL........ BUT THIS IS JUST MY 2 CENTS WORTH........ YOUR CALL..... BE SAFE NOW........................ROCK................... . [email protected]

[Arc Burn]

1st trailer is early next week.All i can tell you is it's a refridgerated trailer,Franz mentioned that the unit should also ventilate to though.
Rock,good point on the moisture,these trailers have been sitting for a couple weeks,not sure if thats good or bad or don't matter.Still a little up in the air about wire?

All your help is greatly appreciated,anything to keep me from second guessing myself to death!

[ryanevans]

Franz

Which product is it you were talking about from ZEP that does such a great job on Aluminum? I found a SS cleaner but no Aluminum. I've got a diamond plate toolbox on my truck and it's getting a little grungy. The tread has just enough burr on it to shred anything I use to wipe/polish it.

Ryan

[Guest]

I believe you can get by with 4043,....I think 5356 maybe too brittle, but I'm not sure. 4043 is more forgiving.

You said these are produce trailers, but you were'nt clear as to what they will be used for....I'm thinking that tacking these plates will let moisture get underneath the plates and form some sort of weird bacteria ecoli or something. You probably won't be able to get a perfect fit, which will have some gaps to allow stuff to get under the plates.

In the case of plates that long, I suggest tacking the front outboard corner, then middle outboard, then front inboard, then inspect your fit, and then tack rear outboard, (which you may have to cut later) then start from the front, and tack out board, inboard, outboard, and so on and as you travel to the rear you may have to cut your previous tacks, but they will be in line, and you won't lose your fit.

[Franz]

The Zep product is called ZEP A LUME E, product number 1062.
I don't think it's one of the Zep products available from Home Depot.
It's a combination of Hydroflouric, Phosphoric and Sulphuric acid.

[Arc Burn]

Rocky D,moisture should not be an issue,they insist that the plates are fully welded for that reason.

Franz,is that product to clean prior to welding or to "shine" up old aluminum?

[bill grooms]

reefer welding

I weld reefers from time to time. We use 4043 wire with spool gun. I prefer the cobra gun with a large roll of wire. Less down time changing those little rolls. I use 2 squirrel cage fans. One in the front and one close to the door. Usually I have an air hose with a blower to help the smoke out. The reefers we weld at our shop have ridged floors, about 1 inch wide and one inch deep. I've had small fires, but they usually go out on their own. When I weld aluminum with insulation underneath, I try to move fairly fast so the insulation wont blow through. It usually happens though. I just clean it up with a grinder because patching it seems impossible.
good luck

[Arc Burn]

Thanks Bill,Those are the same floors as i'm working on.I see lots of interesting patch jobs in some,hopefully this is the fix to end all fixes

[Franz]

ArcBurn, the guys I was talking to say it will clean anything off aluminum from gallopin grunge to diesel smoke. I figure it does all that, it oughta be good for pre weld cleaning.