2003 Kolbe double hung windows replacement balance kit

Question

Hi,

I bought an entire house of Kolbe double hung windows in 2001 ($15,000) and found that 12 of them needed repair to the balance systems a few years later. Kolbe discontinued the balance kit that my windows came with and in 2003 provided a new replacement balance kit.

I am finding that more of my windows need repair. The dealer has provided this photo of what the parts look like.

He said the plastic jamliner will probably break when I try to replace these parts. He recomends that I special order the replacement balance kit from Kolbe, around 200 per window! Help! Is that likely the way to fix these windows? They are very dangerous...like a loaded gun that can go off when you least expect it. They would smash any fingers that happened to be in the way.

Please call to discuss, anytime!

Ruth

Bob · Accepted Answer

Hey Ruth. I understand your consternation. Fortunately, I do think we can replace these channel balances. I believe this is likely a Series 751 balance, but with a 15-197 Shoe attached on bottom rather than the one our standard versions of this balance use (the 15-014). We'd be happy to build these for you via custom order. I just need a little more information to get started:

For each set of balances, what is the length of the metal channel?
What stamp codes are on the metal channels?
Just to be safe, can you show me a picture of the end profile of the balance? I'm pretty sure it will be ribbed, rather than plain, as the pictures here show. But I want to be safe.

Finally, assuming this is a ribbed channel balance, the video below shows how to remove and replace them. If you're up for it, and assuming the jamb liners aren't already damaged, I think you can remove and replace these without damaging the jamb liners themselves. If in doubt, hire a local pro to do that job.