Red or blue balances?

Thanks for posting, Conrad! The color tips are indicative of your spiral balance's strength, so whether you should get blue or red tips for your other window balances depends entirely on the weight of those window sashes.

Are the balances in the other windows the same size and Series as the ones you recently replaced? If not, I will need to know the lengths and diameters of their metal tubes. I will also need to know if the windows are tilt, or non-tilt.

In either event, I will also need to know the weight of each window sash in order to determine the best possible tip color option for their balances.

Thanks, Conrad! The S600-27 has three different color tip options, each with varying weight capacities. Let me give you each one, and you can decide which would be best for your balances.

-The red tip can carry a window sash weight range of 7 through, and including, 29 pounds.
-The blue tip can carry 12 through, and including, 31 pounds.
-Finally, the black tip can carry 31 through, and including, 40 pounds.

Please keep in mind that the weight range information is based on 2 balances per sash. Balances are designed assuming friction in the jamb weather-strip will carry a portion of the sash weight. Suggested sash weights are approximate.

If both of your balances have blue tips, it might be safe to go with blue tips again. Your balances simply may have just been too old to support the weight of the window. Alternatively, they could just need to be charged. Sometimes older balances simply need to be wound up a little to add tension. Our 75-006 spiral balance charging tool for tilt-windows would be the tool for that job.

One last thing: you might want to check out our tutorial video on how to replace a tilt-window spiral balance. This sheds a lot of insight on the best method for replacing this hardware, as well as general information on how they work.