Welding Galvanize

[Charley Davidson]

The tank for my junk art motorcycle is galvanize, what is the proper way of welding that to mild steel? Will it hold with just regular mig?

[Gadget]

Charley,
First of all, galvanized emits a poisonous gas when welded so if you must weld it be sure to be in a well ventilated area and avoid the fumes. If you have one and can fit it in your helmet, use a respirator for added safety. To prepare for welding use a flap wheel to grind off the galvanized coating from any area you have to weld at least an inch back. You can tell when you get to plain steel because the wheel will shoot off sparks on steel but not the zink coating.
Dan

[arandall]

That zinc gives off a kind of lime green residue when being welded - its fumes are not good for you - so watch out for it.

Cheers,
Art R.

[poodle]

Like everyone says use good ventilation. If you don't clean the coating off it does leave a nasty looking weld area.

[jakazz]

And it will also have a whitish coating, almost a fur on it it when your done welding. Heres a pic of some 10 ga galv I welded this weekend



---------- Post added at 10:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:23 AM ----------

OOPS wrong PIC here it is, you can see the gring marks in the metal going at a 45 deg angle away

[Buckcp]

jakazz, the pic you posted of the feathered/furred edging along your weld is great information of a sign to look for if the steel being welded is questionable, thanks!

[SICFabrications]

i know (well used to) a fella that welded a litle too much galvanized metal one day.... he is in the big welders booth in the sky now... galvanize is NOTHING to play around with... some old timers will tell you to just drink some milk after youve welded it... it works until that 1 time when youve gotten too much.... it only takes 1 lil misstep until yer braindead anyway...


solid wire mig will weld, only after youve cleaned the zinc coating off the parent metal. i use a torch with rose bud tip and a p-100 organic filtered respirator and burn the galvanizing, then clean with a flap disc.

if you start to feel a little loopy QUIT WORKING THEN!

[kb3gun]

You might have heard the term 'welders flu". It's a result of exposure to fumes from welding galvanized steel. Milk does help get rig of the flu like symptoms.
As was said before, it could kill you if over-exposed. Best bet is to grind/sand away the coating before you start welding.

[arandall]

SIC adn KB3:
Thanks for the tip on drinking the milk. - Obviously, it would be best to just not weld galvanized - but it happens, so its nice to know about the milk. - It's not an antidote - but if it alleviates the symptoms at least, it's worth knowing.

Cheers,
Art R.

[Lonewolf9029]

When i worked a lot of construction jobs, us welders would shut the job down until our milk came in. Use a large fan as much as possible and keep your head out of the gases. When you get a sweet taste in your mouth you've had some exposure. Take a break! Back in the mid-70's they came out with some pills; don't remember their name, but they did little good. I've had Zinc poisoning and it's nothing to laugh at. Sweat, then chills, shaking and bad sick for about 3 days. Have your helper grind as much of the coating off as possible. The other fellows are right; none of this is worth dying for. Don