Replacement sash lock and keeper for heavy wood double hung windows.

A handy person from Charlotte NC says:

May 23, 2022

I am looking for a strong sash lock and keeper for a heavy wood top sash. The current lock and keeper is not strong enough to keep the upper sash all the way up, so there is about a 1/8th gap where the top of the sash slides up into the recessed area. Do you have a recommended hardware to address this issue?
Thanks!

Tom from SWISCO responded:

May 26, 2022

I'm afraid I'm not sure what to recommend. I wouldn't say that any one of our locks are necessarily "stronger" than anything else we sell. They all pretty much do their job equally well.

It sounds like this might be the wrong solution for the issue at hand. the lock's job isn't to keep the upper sash up, it's to keep the lower sash from being opened. The upper sash shouldn't be falling down at all.

The hardware that keeps it raised are the balances on either side of the frame. Could it be that those have failed? Would that be something you can investigate to confirm? We do sell a number of different balances and one of them very well may be what you need, but I'm not sure. Without seeing your window or knowing more about it this is admittedly an educated guess.

A handy person from Charlotte NC says:

May 26, 2022

Thanks for your response. I think you may have a point and will further investigate. Is it possible that the mechanism(the "shoe") that facilitates the tilt feature may be out of alignment which keeps the upper sash from sliding all the way to the top? Please let me know your thoughts.

Tom from SWISCO responded:

May 27, 2022

It's possible, but unlikely. The pivot shoe's only functions are to allow the window to tilt in and to lock itself in place when that occurs. It's not involved in the sash actually staying up. That's 100% on the balance. If your top sash is drooping down then the balance should be the first thing you check, even if it's just to eliminate it as a possibility.

A handy person from Charlotte NC says:

May 27, 2022

Thanks Tom!

A home owner from Roscoe IL says:

October 24, 2022

Late reply but hope this helps. I am currently rebuilding all of my large windows in my home and I'm all too familiar with what you described. In theory, the springs in the jamb liners should hold the window up, but I have never actually seen one with a spring capable of holding them up - they assist in raising the window but will allow the window to drift down a little bit causing that gap at the top. I have found, in my case, that the top rail of the lower window is not very strong and the single sash lock in the center allows the rail to bow. However, I solved the problem by using two sash locks instead of one. This has solved the problem for me. Hope this helps.

Thumbnail of the uploaded file named 16FC958F-87B4-43BE-A2D4-922D940212EE.jpeg

Truth EntryGard II Sash Lock, 2-1/16"

90-318

$5.57

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