Andersen balance loose cord

Question

Hello - we had our home built in 2004 with all Anderson double hung windows.

We tried to wash the inside and outside of one of the second floor windows by pushing the little clips on the top of the both sides of the bottom window and dropping the bottom window forward and down for cleaning. Then we reached under the top window to clean the outside of it. There is a little "string" on both sides of the bottom window that is loose but not broken and I can't seem to get it inside of the guide to close the window completely. I unscrewed the connection bottom of the string to keep it from breaking.
I don't need new balances yet but would like to put the window back together. The string is attached to a coiled spring and I can't get it to retract or insert into the side wall so the window can completely seat with string inside.
How do I put this back together? This is very frustrating.

Paul · Accepted Answer

Hi there! Thank you for reaching out to us. The spring inside the balance might be worn out or it could be that the cord is caught inside. I'd recommend you remove both sashes again and, with gloves, pull down the loose cord and see if you could work them back in the balance box. You might want to rub wax on the cords to help them slide in.

I hope this helps!