welding aluminum baking racks

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I work for a retail bakery that has aluminum baking racks that are about twenty years old, some of them are in pretty bad shape so i was going to tig weld them. Some are dirty and I have been told that welding old aluminum that has baked on grease will be difficult. Any hints or  suggestions Thanks
Reply:clean the hell out of them, use a wire wheel or even grind it down some, wipe with acetone and you should be all setStangnetShop Full Of Stuff. Joey
Reply:It's funny that you mention baking racks.  I've been repairing a few for a bakery not too far away.  Without spending too much time in prepwork aside from brushing them, I run pulse mig.  I weld down the middle and by the time I weld the sides of my original weld, things seems to clean up pretty well.  The weld turns out a little bigger, but it seems to be the fastest way for me.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:Thanks for your suggestions
Reply:Most old aluminum will hold some contaminates or moisture. You can clean with acetone and then wire wheel or brush. When you start to weld if you notice  black around weld area or areas of the aluminuml that seem to not want to fill or puddle well as you weld, this is contaminates working out. Clean again and then re-weld.Many repairs of alum. that come in my shop are quite dirty and need to be clean and then re cleaned and sometimes ground out to accomplish a good weld. I look at old cast iron and aluminum as a two part weld job that after I clean and weld it I'll most likely be doing it again to achieve a good weld. I also pre heat cast aluminum parts to get the moisture out of them.J P Streets Welding LLC