Appropriate charging of window balancers

Quick Learner from Washington DC

Mar 2, 2016 3:40 pm

Hello,
I just brought 2 new 30" black tip series 600 balances.
I followed your video on how to charge these balances, and the window installation went well.
I have a question on the number of rotations of charging, I currently used 2. However the window still takes a little bit of effort to open, my wife who isn't strong can open the window fine with 2 hands. But i want to know how much times I can SAFELY rotate this, without damaging the balances. FYI, i don't know the weight of these sliding windows.

Many Thanks,
Rich.

4 Replies

Paul from SWISCO

Mar 4, 2016 10:46 am

You can give it another turn, if it's still hard to open. However I wouldn't recommend more than three total turns for a Black Tip spiral balance.

Quick Learner

Mar 4, 2016 11:19 am

Okay, so what your saying is the more tension the easier it would be to open the window. But, as the tension is similar to a rubber band you don't wont to apply too much tension, as it would put too much pressure on the balances. If your window can stay up without any tension, should I still apply 2 turns of clockwise tension?

Thanks.

Paul from SWISCO

Mar 7, 2016 12:50 pm

As you add tension, you make the sash easier to open and stay up without drifting down. In the same instance, it requires more pressure to lower the sash. So just try one window and adjust it to your liking, then go to the next window. Sometimes the same size windows require a different number of charges. If you find a window stays up fine as-is, then leave it be. Just remember that you should only give it three turns at the maximum, especially since you have black tips.