Adjustment Screw Insert

Quick Learner from Harrisburg, PA

Jul 30, 2020 3:36 pm

Need 8 adjustment screw inserts for my Kensington/Amcraft windows. They slide down spontaneously. About 13 years ago after we purchased the windows, customer service sent me about 10 inserts to keep windows from sliding closed, but not enough for all windows. The three photos I sent are of one of our nine double-hung windows, one shoe with the insert, and one shoe without the insert. Please advise if you need additional info. Thank you.

3 user uploaded images

4 Replies

Tom from SWISCO

Aug 3, 2020 3:15 pm

I'm not sure what you mean by "insert." I don't see a particular insert in any of your photos. I can tell you that if your windows are drifting down, then you need all new balance springs, not just an insert that screws into the window.

Your particular shoe housing looks like our 15-087, which is designed to be used with the Series 180 spring. That's just an educated guess, though. Look these parts over and see what you think. The spring may be all you need.

Quick Learner from Harrisburg, PA

Aug 3, 2020 3:57 pm

I'm not aware of any springs. It's an Allen screw sleeve = "insert." It's adjusted with an Allen wrench. The one picture has the screw (silver sleeve), the other does not (empty hole). None of our windows had the inserts when they were installed. I was sent about 10 when I called customer service, and I installed and adjusted (tightened) them myself on those that were slipping down at the time. The nylon shoes (in the pictures) are attached to the bottom of each window section, i.e., top pane and bottom pane, and slide up and down with the window. The screw sleeve inserts tighten the shoes in the tracks to increase or decrease friction. There's one shoe and insert in each track on each side. Two shoes/two inserts per window. A full window, top and bottom, has four shoes, one screw insert per shoe.

Tom from SWISCO

Aug 4, 2020 9:06 am

I've never encountered a setup like that before. Not with a modern window, anyway. Some old windows from, like, the 1940's work by friction but no window company does that anymore, and especially not with the hardware you have now. What you're showing me in your first two photos is a pivot carrier for a coil balance spring. It's designed to carry the coil spring, which itself does all the lifting and holding as you operate your sash.

If your windows have no such springs, then to put it bluntly, someone messed up. You definitely don't want to just pop a screw in there to hold the windows up. I can't see how that won't just make matters worse. It's simply not how your window is meant to operate.

I'm not sure as to the extent of the changes made to your window when the installers did this, but it's definitely some kind of custom job. If I were you, I would see if you can get a hold of the installers directly to come out and fix their mistake. If you don't know who they are or can't find them, then you definitely want the help of a professional to undo what they did. You need proper balances installed in this window to get it functional again.