Wilesco D3 Operation

This video is a short tutorial on the operation of the Wilesco D3 model steam engine. Here’s my thoughts after running the engine. I’ve seen many posts from people complaining about the craftsmanship, poor design of this engine and claims that the engines don’t run or don’t run well. I just purchased this engine new and only have 5 or 6 runs on it but have had no problems. The engine ran right out of the box and only required a minor tightening of the steam cylinder trunnion or pivot pin to reduce steam leakage and increase RPM. The steam cylinder and piston on this unit are by no means engineering marvels, they are a simple low cost but functional design that works. The fire box and burner are of solid construction. The polished boiler looks fantastic and the safety pressure valve is a nice feature. The sight glasses on the boiler while small are functional. The plastic chimney toper is a joke as it doesn’t attach in a solid manner, I simply removed it. Due to the light weight of the flywheel and the nature of the single piston operation, without a counter balance, the unit does vibrate quite a bit. Instead of attaching it to a wood base as suggested by others I added some lead weight to the underside of the base below the steam cylinder. The unit now stays put with only a slight vibration at high RPM as shown in the video. This is not a high end engine, it’s an entry level unit costing around $80 (US) new which is a third or less of the cost of the more advanced units. The engine is fun to operate, will power the Wilesco accessories if that’s what you want, and looks good when running or sitting on the shelf.