Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

Asking people what's a good engine will elicit many varying opinions, I for one am a Jensen fan & here lately have acquired many wilesco's,  its really a personal preference. You can get a bad or nice engine in any category. this is a good question & is asked frequently. my usual response is a nice used Jensen #75 & for a bit more $$ is the same engine...a Jensen #25 with a built in heater. In the Wilesco line up a #20 is a good starter engine with decent power. As with all used steam plants condition plays an important role. You have to be particularly observant with Wilesco boilers as they suffer more from dezink (boiler rot) & are thinner than Jensen boilers and are also soft soldered as oppose to the Jensen silver brazed (much stronger)
Re: aquarium pump , I have one that is variable speed & has 2 outlets that I connect together & its capable of approx 3psi ,good for most reasonably tuned steam engines.
Good luck with your hunt & keep us posted with what you settle on.