Control, and aluminum · review
The cheapest way into TIG, and the one machine here that starts without high frequency — which is a feature, not only a saving.
Where we come out A genuine, if narrow, TIG machine at the price of a good helmet.
At €128 this is the cheapest machine on the page, and it is honest about what it is: a DC lift-start TIG with an MMA mode, for steel, stainless and copper.
You rest the tungsten on the work, press the trigger, and lift — the arc follows. There is no high-frequency burst, so nothing in the house complains, and there is no HF board to fail. The cost is that each start touches the electrode to the workpiece, which picks up a little contamination and means more regrinding than a machine with an HF start.
For a beginner that trade is often right. The commonest reason people abandon TIG is not the arc, it is the money spent before they have found out whether they enjoy the process.
It is sold as the TIG200 and rated at 140 A. That is enough for stainless up to roughly 3 mm (0.12 in) and steel a little thicker, which covers brackets, exhausts, tube frames and repairs. If you expected 200 A because of the model name, this is the first thing to know.
The maker names stainless, carbon steel, alloy steel and copper. Aluminum is absent, and correctly so: breaking the oxide layer on aluminum needs alternating current, which this machine does not produce. That is the single dividing line in TIG, and it is worth being sure which side of it you need before ordering.
Current, processes, arc start and material list come from the manufacturer’s published specification. Market availability was verified per market on the EAN; the reference was not live on the American store at the time of checking.
Prices quoted in this text were read on 2026-08-13. The live price is at the top of the page.
| Current | 140 A |
|---|---|
| Processes | DC lift TIG, MMA |
| Arc start | Lift — no high frequency |
| Materials named by the maker | Stainless, carbon steel, alloy steel, copper |
| Part number | TIG200 |
| Amazon reference | B0D44JNMXT |
| EAN | 0644197796782 |
Because HF is a burst of radio-frequency energy, and it interferes with electronics nearby — wireless networks, garage door receivers, sometimes the machine’s own display. In a home workshop attached to a house, lift start avoids the whole question. What you give up is tungsten life: touching the electrode to the work to strike leaves a trace of contamination each time.
No. Aluminum carries an oxide layer that melts far hotter than the metal beneath it, and it is alternating current that breaks that layer up. A DC-only machine cannot do it, and no torch, gas or technique changes that. If aluminum matters, the AC/DC machines further down this page are the entry point.
7.2/ 10
A genuine, if narrow, TIG machine at the price of a good helmet.
A reference exists on these Amazon stores: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom. Listed is not the same as in stock — availability changes daily.
Details checked on August 13, 2026.
Finding out whether you like TIG before spending €400 on one
Here because the consumable states this machine by name.
Specifications: the manufacturer sheet for welding and metalworking machines and the matching Amazon product page. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure on this page names its source.
180 A AC/DC · 32-bit control · 7-year warranty · €380
A fully digital AC/DC machine with adjustable pulse, from an importer that publishes an address and a seven-year term.
Best for: Someone who wants aluminum capability and an importer who answers letters
200 A AC/DC · fully digital · 7-year warranty · €570
The top of this page: a fully digital 200 A AC/DC machine with stick as well, and seven years behind it.
Best for: Regular aluminum and stainless work, where the machine has to be right rather than adequate
200 A AC/DC · AC frequency 20–100 Hz · spot 0.01–9.99 s · €459
The first machine on this page that publishes its AC frequency range and pulse frequencies — the controls aluminum actually needs.
Best for: Aluminum work where the arc has to be steered, not just switched on
