Replacing S500 balances, is the metal bracket necessary?

Question

I  have an apartment building  with  aluminum  single  pane  windows,  installed  1963,  which  have  the  Series  500  spiral  balances.   However,   the  plastic  shoes  have  broken  off  over  the  years.     They  appear  to  be  the  15-009  shoe  in  your  catalog.   However,  I  find  no  metal  brackets  anywhere on  these  windows.   Do  they  have  to  have  the  brackets, or  could  they  just  have  been  installed  with  a  plastic   balance  shoe?  Also,  in  charging  the  replacement  balances,  for  a  light  to  mid  weight  aluminum  window,  approximately  how  many  revolutions  of  the  spiral  balance,  on  average,  is  necesaary  to  charge  the  balance?

Paul · Accepted Answer

The metal sash clip that goes with the 15-009 nylon shoe is our 17-009 which is screwed on the bottom of the sash. For medium weight sashes, the red tip balance should be fine. We find three turns to be just right for tension.