Looking for Curtis air compressor parts

by Jonathan
(Colora MD)

Looking for info on Curtis ES-50. It looks heavy duty, but an older model Curtis. Curtis appears to still make them in newer versions.

(Link removed as no longer operational – Moderator)

Can I get parts for it?

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More info
by: Anonymous

I went to look at it. It’s an es-50 compressor, single stage, but there are two of them with an alt switch. The model name is Challenge Air. Parts are still available for it.

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Curtis / Toledo Challenge Air
by: EJ

I hope you were able to get one of the pumps. I have some Champion and Kellogg compressors and would hold my old ES-30 up against them any day. I think that the older Challenge Air units were under appreciated for what they are- solid machines with quality parts.

One can buy renewal/maintenance kits for the ES units at Portland (OR) Air Compressor but they are damn expensive. When I rebuilt my pump it was after it sat outside for a year in the previous owner’s yard. The aluminum pistons were easy to polish up, and the cylinders honed out to their original smooth surfaces.

The valves in the head had some rust damage, but I couldn’t afford the $300 to replace them. Instead I put some valve-lapping compound on the cast iron valve seats and lapped the valve to the seat. I then opened up the valves themselves and lapped each seal to its respective seat. When I finished I pressurized the pump and let it sit for two days. On the second day the pressure had dropped less than 1 psi.

The piston rings in the ES-30 and the ES-50 are a common size. Instead of making a special order from a compressor supply house I went over to a business which sells and maintains nailing guns and small compressors. The man had two sets of my size in stock, each containing both the piston rings and an oil ring.

I am a mechanical idiot, so you know a machine has to be easy to work on if I have successfully completed any type of repairs.

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