Welding near insulation?

Tom94 · Sun Aug 28, 2016 5:54 pm

Hey guys, I'm doing some rust repair on my rocker panels and floor pans. I got some good patches on the inside of the rocker panels but, I need to weld near and on a floor pan or two before I close it up. Problem is that floor pan has insulation inside. I pulled a piece out and lit it on fire to see if it was flammable and it was.

What can I do?

Welder2008 · Sun Aug 28, 2016 9:31 pm

Wet down the insulation

Tom94 · Sun Aug 28, 2016 10:25 pm

I thought about that only I can't get to most of the insulation to wet it and I don't want to seal that moisture inside the floor pan.

Welder2008 · Mon Aug 29, 2016 5:48 am

What process are you welding with? If you have the availability to tig weld it, I wouldn't worry about it. If you're mig welding it, I would just take it slow and just keep a fire extinguisher on hand just in case. The insulation shouldn't be flammable but the adhesive to tack it to the floor panel is but its not extremely combustible.... I really never worried about it when doing body work unless it's close enough to contaminate my weld.

Tom94 · Mon Aug 29, 2016 3:37 pm

Thanks. I'm stick welding which is why I'm concerned. Also, when I took a lighter to a piece of insulation, It went up like a piece of paper.

Welder2008 · Tue Aug 30, 2016 12:32 pm

Wow. Never encountered anything on body panels that went up like that!!! What rod you planning on using?? You should probably use 1/16" or 3/32" 6013. It's designed as a sheet metal rod and there's very little sparks. Especially compared to 6010/6011.... It's not an explosive situation, could probably get away with just welding a few inches at a time to keep the heat down and keep a fire extinguisher handy just in case and go for it... They to make fire blankets and fire resistant products but not sure how much room is available to you.

Poland308 · Tue Aug 30, 2016 9:26 pm

Cool gel comes in a spray bottle like windex. It marketed to plumbers for soldering. It absorbs crazy amounts of heat. But it won't stain or ruin a finish. It dries totally and is undetectable afterwards. I've used it on walls painted with latex paint when I had to use a torch less than an inch away. Never even dis colored the paint. I saw it demonstrated by a marketing guy on a styrofoam cup. He sprayed it on then held a number 1 oxy acetylene torch tip about a half inch away pointed right on the cup. It's an Awsome product.