Replacement coil balance

Question

Hi

I live in the UK. We own a holiday apartment with sash windows and one of the coil balances has broken. It is proving very difficult to get a spare from the window manufacturer. I have attached some pictures and wondered if you could suggest what I might need to fix it.

The first picture shows the broken coil and housing, the second picture is the latch where it fits into the part that runs up and down the channel, the third shows the size of the windows. The bottom sash is approximately 3 feet high and heavy. This is not the first time one of the balances has broken and I suspect that the windows might need heavier duty balances.

The coil housing shown in the first picture is approximately 10cm long and 3cm wide.

I am not sure if this is enough information for you to be able to help, but anything would be useful.

Thanking you in advance.

Best regards

Ian

Tom · Accepted Answer

Hello, Ian. I think we can help with these coil balances, but I can't quite make out what you have from these photos. The balance assembly is too obscured by the window itself. Is there any way we can see it removed, or at least less obscured? I specifically need to see the pivot shoe, which is what connects to the sash at its bottom corners. That's probably the most important detail.

Since the strength of the springs is in question, I will also need you to place your sash on a scale and give me its exact weight, down to the ounce. I also need the code printed on the original springs as a reference, so you'll have to remove the assembly anyway before we can proceed.

Once we have that information I can work from there.