A TIG welder rents for roughly $60 to $140 a day, and that buys the power source, a torch and usually a foot pedal. Argon, tungsten and filler rod are consumables you buy rather than borrow. The rate climbs with amperage and with whether the machine can run alternating current, which is what aluminium needs.
What comes with the power source
A rental package is normally the inverter, a torch with its lead, an earth clamp and a pedal. The regulator and the argon bottle may be on the ticket or may be yours to bring, and yards differ. Tungsten electrodes and filler rod are sold, not lent, so price them in before you decide one yard is cheaper than another.
Alternating current is the reason to rent rather than borrow
Steel and stainless weld on direct current, which nearly every machine offers. Aluminium needs alternating current with balance and frequency control, and that feature is what separates a cheap hire from an expensive one. Ask for it by name when you book. A machine that only runs direct current will not break the oxide layer, whatever you do with the pedal.
The socket has to hold the amperage
Small units run on a household circuit at low current. Anything working near two hundred amps and above wants a dedicated welder outlet or a generator sized for it, and the sizing is done on the machine's input rating, never on its output. Where site power is thin, the same counter will hire the generator, and the two are quoted as one job.
Fume, screens and the room you weld in
Welding fume settles where air does not move, so extraction and screens are common add ons and each is its own line. Indoors, on stainless, or on anything coated, moving the fume away from the operator is not a preference. Federal air contaminant limits sit behind that, and they are why the counter offers the extractor at all.
Questions people ask about tig welder rental
Can I rent the argon bottle with the machine?
Most yards will supply a bottle on exchange or on a daily cylinder charge, and some send you to a gas supplier instead. Ask when you book, because arriving with a torch and no argon costs you the day. Return pressure is usually read and billed.
Is a TIG hire worth it against renting a MIG machine?
For thin stainless, aluminium and anything where the bead is visible, yes. For structural steel, fence repair or heavy fabrication, a MIG machine lays metal down far faster and rents for less. TIG buys control, not speed.
What size generator will run a rented TIG welder?
Size it on the welder's rated input in kilovolt amperes at the current you will actually use, then leave headroom for the inrush when the arc starts. The rental counter can match the two if you tell them the machine and the work.