Coil spring balances

Thanks for reaching out! I am confident that there is a replacement coil balance assembly that we will be able to recommend for you, however, I'll need to see a photo of your existing hardware removed from the window.

I'll need to see the pivot shoes as well as any other compatible parts. You'll also need to have them removed to confirm the measurements of your pivot shoe.

Also, you'll need to look for any stamps on the metal coil that might indicate the spring strength needed for your window. If the windows are different sizes, you'll need to confirm the stamps for each window.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks for the photos. You have a coil balance assembly that appears to be an older discontinued shoe that is no longer available. For this, we typically recommend our 15-192 Certainteed pivot shoe to replace your Simonton brand part but you may need to shave down the aligners from the shoe to install it into the window. Take a look at the dimensions to confirm if it may work for you.

detail of 15-192

There are compatible with the Series 170 coil balances as well as the Series 171. The S171 is stacked on top of the S170 in situations where there is more than one coil. The confirm which coil strength you need, you'll need to look for any stamps/markings on the metal coil. If there are no stamps/markings, you'll need to get the window weight and divide it by the total number of coils in the window.

We are now recommending the 15-259 pivot shoe, which should fit well in the track, along with the S159 coils springs and the 15-256 double support. To use this assembly, the original pivot bars would need to be replaced with our 26-083. We are still in the early stages of confirming if this replacement is a good long-term solution but we have high hopes that it will work with little need for modifications, if any. Take a look and if you decide to give it a try, we'd be eager to hear how it works out for you.

If you are going with using the 15-259 shoe, you'll need the Series 159 Coil Springs and the 15-256 double support, as described. 

The Series 170 and Series 171 are not compatible with this shoe nor are the wide covers. Also, the balance drum is not used along with the Series 159 springs.

Please be sure to carefully read all of the information above and watch the video so that you can determine the best replacement assembly for your window.

Yes, those are the parts we use to repair Simonton windows like your original. The video Jasmine shared above should hopefully explain how best to install them; I've done this conversion myself and it's fairly straight forward, but it does require a little elbow grease. Coil balances are always going to be a little tricky since it's such a tight fit in the track. I'd be lying if I said I never scraped a knuckle or two.

As for how many springs to use, that depends entirely on how much weight you need. The rule of thumb is to take the weight of the sash and divide that by how many springs support it. Your next step should be to weigh your sash on a scale (any common bathroom scale will do) and then divide it by two, under the assumption that you'll be using one spring per side (for now).

If you find that none of the available Series 159 weight options are strong enough to carry that weight as a pair, then you scratch that out and divide the sash weight by 4, instead. This is now assuming that you'll be using two springs per side.

So, for example, if your sash weight is 19 pounds, and you only want to use one spring per side, then you can easily use the 9.5 pound option for the Series 159. Two of these working together hold 19 pounds exactly.

Hopefully that makes sense, but let me know if you need any clarification.

Sure, I know the sash doesn't weigh 19 pounds, I only used that as an example. Your next step should absolutely be to weigh your sash to best determine what weight options you need for each spring.

Great! That makes this a lot easier.

Starting with the 24 pound sash, you have two options. The first is to use S159-12 on each side (12.5 pounds each), which gives you 25 pounds of support. That's one pound over what you need, but in my experience that should be fine. One pound off won't be the end of the world and you probably won't notice a difference.

The other option is to use one S160-6 (6.5 pounds) or one S160-5 (5.5 pounds) per side. This will give you an even 24 pounds of support, but a double spring setup is a little tougher to install. 

It's really up to you which way you want to go, I think both would work equally well, it's just a matter of preference.

I'm very sorry, I totally missed where you mentioned an additional 21 pound sash. That's my fault. 

No, you will need different strength coils for each weight. For a 21 pound sash you can just use one 10.5 pound spring per side. That will give you 21 pounds of support precisely, with no overlap. That should be perfect.

Sorry again for the oversight! I'm happy to answer anything else you need.

I'm afraid that I can't place an order for you. You can, however, buy these parts directly on our site at your convenience. You can also call our customer support line at (888) 991-1929 if you'd prefer.