Does the color of a pivot bar cam matter?

Question

I see that the pibot lock shoes have different colors on the locking circle where the window pivot bar fits. Is this color signigicant, does the color correspond to the weight of the window like the spiral balance does?

Also why is there two pivot lock shoes with one measuring 9/16 and a second 17/32..is 1/32 that critical...i need one that is in this 9/16 range, but wonder if its actually the 17/32...???

Tom · Accepted Answer

Hello! That's a very good question. The color of the cam does indicate, to some extent, the strength of the material, but it's not directly related to the sash weight and in my experience it's somewhat low on the list of considerations. For example, a black cam is considered "heavy duty," but I've used different colors in the same application and never felt that there was any change in function.

The balance itself is what does all the weight regulation. I've found that the strength of the cam would only come into play if there's a high risk of damage, like when you're dealing with extremely heavy sashes or when you accidentally tilt the sash in without raising it up first. A black cam might survive that a little better than a white cam, but it's marginal.

As for size, that's much more important. It may not seem like much of a difference but 1/32" can be a deal breaker. Figure that there's very limited space in the channel, so a shoe being even a hair thicker will lead to excess friction even in the best case scenario. That would make the window harder to operate in general. In a worse case scenario, it'll get jammed.

Conversely, if the shoe isn't thick enough then the sash will wobble during operation. There's even a risk that the pivot bar would slip out, which could be disastrous.

Hopefully this information helps. To summarize, the thickness of a shoe is one of the most important details you need to consider, and they do get pretty precise. The color of the cam pivot, on the other hand, isn't exactly going to be the end of the world if it's not identical. Size definitely comes first in my opinion.