Please let me know what kind of balance this is

Question

Single hung, non tilt windows with metal frames on 20 yo house. I thought these are spiral balances but didn't see 2 metal plates under the window panel. A few of my windows are not staying up so I'd love to try replace the balance, but I don't know what kind of balance these are, would you please identify them for me? If you have instructions on how to replace them it would be even better. Thank you so much for your help!

Tom · Accepted Answer

Thanks for reaching out to us. These do appear to be spiral balances, judging by your photos. Not all non-tilt spiral balances install at the bottom using plates, so the fact that you lack such a plate doesn't mean this isn't a spiral. Sometimes there are clips, or shoes, or even just little hooks. You'll have to detach them at the bottom to know for sure.

Almost all non-tilt spiral balances have a hole at the bottom tip of the spiral so as to allow you to hook on a tool like our 75-005. You can use this to detach the spiral from the sash, by whatever means it's held. Just note that this isn't always the case, and it's one of those things you won't know until you start working with it.

For now, you can see our full selection of non-tilt spiral balances here.