Tom from SWISCO responded:
March 10, 2023
Hello! this part is called a coil balance. We sell a ton of different varieties, and I'm confident that we have something that can work for you, but before I recommend anything I'll need to see a clear picture of the pivot shoe. Would that be possible? Can you also tell me the width of the coil band? It should be noted now that most of our coil balance parts are sold as individual components, not complete assemblies. For example, the spring, shoe, and cover are usually all sold separately. The benefit of this is that you only need to replace what's broken. Your next step is to look over your parts and determine what's actually broken and what can be reused. |
Tom from SWISCO responded:
March 14, 2023
Perfect, thank you! This is precisely the information I needed. Based on the design of your shoe and the size of your coil, I recommend our 15-111 and Series 160, respectively. Your next step is to look at the band of the spring itself, near the end, to see if there is a weight indicator. That will tell you which Series 160 option to order. As for the cover itself, see our 15-150S. |
Tom from SWISCO responded:
March 15, 2023
If there is no stamp on the spring, then you need to weigh your sash. Don't buy every spring until you get the right one, that would just be a waste of money. It will be faster and easier to remove the sash from the window, weigh it, and then divide that weight by how many springs support it. In your case, that number is 2. So, for example, if your sash weight was 11 pounds, then you would divide that by 2 and get 5.5. That would be our S160-5, which carries 5.5 pounds per spring. Doing it that way ensures that you don't have to guess and you can be confident that the hardware you're buying is correct. |
Tom from SWISCO responded:
March 15, 2023
Our S160-3 should be perfectly sufficient, then. These carry 3.5 pounds each each, so having one on each side of the window gives you 7 pounds of support. I don't think you'll miss that half pound's worth of difference. All pricing information can be found on each product's respective store page. You can place an order on our site at your convenience. Please let me know if you had any other questions and I'd be happy to assist you. |
Tom from SWISCO responded:
March 16, 2023
No, these coil balances are non-handed, meaning they can work on either the left or right hand side interchangeably. |
Tom from SWISCO responded:
March 22, 2023
Sure, I'd be happy to help with this window. Aside from size, can you verify that the hardware used is the same? The sticker in this photo unfortunately doesn't tell me anything. Assuming that it's all the same kind of hardware, then using one S160-9 on either side will be perfectly sufficient for an 18 pound sash. As for the latch, I'm afraid I don't know what it could be. I need clear photos of it in order to make a recommendation. |
Tom from SWISCO responded:
March 23, 2023
Thanks for these photos, they're a huge help. That tilt latch looks like a match for our 26-243. We also sell the 26-244 for the opposite side, if you needed it. Review the dimensions we show on their store page to verify. We do have a replacement video for these, which you can see below. You will need tools to remove these, there's no way to avoid that. If you aren't comfortable doing it yourself then you should seek the aid of a local professional to do it for you. Concerning the coil spring, it doesn't matter so much how many springs you have per side as long as they hold up the right weight. In your case you probably have three springs per side that hold up 3 pounds each. That adds up to 18 pounds of support (3x6). The problem is, our 1/2" Series 160 doesn't come with a 3 pound option. The lightest we have is 3.5. If you use three of these on each side that would give you 21 pounds of support (3.5x6). That might be a little too strong and as a result your sash could be harder to close. Meanwhile, using one 9 pound spring on each side gives you the same exact support range of 18 pounds (9x2). It's also easier to install, since you only need to put in one spring. Hopefully that all makes sense. Let me know if you had any questions. |
Tom from SWISCO responded:
March 27, 2023
That's a good question. There's a very good chance that you will need to install these in the middle of the track, not the top. These coils, along with all modern coils made today, only have a travel of around 40". This is much shorter than how older coils were made, which usually had a travel of upwards to 60". I am sorry for the inconvenience. They just don't make them that long anymore. I should have mentioned that earlier but I didn't realize yours were that old. You will need to drill new holes for these to install if your originals weren't that long. Just make sure that you install them so that they're under the tilt latches when the window is fully closed. Otherwise, the tilt latch will bump into the spring when you go to open and close the window, which is no good. |
Tom from SWISCO responded:
March 28, 2023
Multiplying the coils won't increase the travel range, unfortunately. The coils are all anchored at the same spot and extend at the same range. As you suspect, your window won't be able to open quite as much as a side effect. This can be an issue if you use these windows for air conditioners. There's just no way around it that I know of, short of finding the older, longer springs that they used to make. I'm not sure that any company still sells those, though. |
Tom from SWISCO responded:
March 28, 2023
I don't really know what you're referring to when you mention a stop. There won't be any problem closing the window since you're installing the coil assembly lower in the track. Instead of being installed at the top, they're being installed in the middle. Therefore that 40" should be more than enough. I can't think of any stop that would be relevant in this scenario. The only thing you have to worry about is that the coil assembly has to go under the effective range of the tilt latch. That's what I mean by "bumping;" if the coil assembly is above the tilt latch, then the latch will literally bump into the coil spring when you open the window, preventing it from opening at all. To reiterate the project at hand: the new coil springs are shorter than the originals. Therefore you have to install them lower in the track to make up the difference. As long as you make sure that they're under the tilt latches, this will work fine. |
Tom from SWISCO responded:
March 29, 2023
Thanks for clarifying. That stop shouldn't influence the function of the balance in any way. It in no way interacts with the mechanism or prohibits its function. I don't know why it would be relevant to the length of the coil springs. |