Spiral Balances

Question

I was reading the posts of weighing the sash. As far as I can tell my sash is not removable, it is not a tilt out. The sash is behind the or inside the the side track.

I also don't have or see a guide, shoe or clip. I have both adjustment tools but could not get a hold of the balance. When I pulled the screw at the top it spun just a little and finally fell down where I pulled the inside out from the bottom and the tube from the top. Im not sure what the bottom is setting into after adjusting. Plus I've read and videos many have a problem with how much adjustment is needed. From 3 to 15 turns. I bought red 3/8 30" but wonder if they should be blue seeing as these windows were never real smooth. And they are pretty good size. The sash is 35"wW x 30" H and I weighed it as shown. The balances I got are a match to originals. Any help would be great.

Tom · Accepted Answer

Looks like you have an old builder's grade window. As you've already surmised, the sash on this kind of window is not designed to come out in any way. These were kind of mass-produced at low cost so that they could pump out as many windows as possible; as such, they weren't designed to be repaired, only replaced.

As for charging the spiral balance itself, you never want to give a balance any more than 5 turns. 2-3 is much more common. 15 is way, way too many times; if you find yourself having to charge it more than 5 times then you risk permanently damaging the balance. That usually means you got the wrong weight, anyway, and you're just wasting your time. Either way, don't listen to anyone who tells you to charge it 15 times. That is not the right way to do things.

If you have a 30" long, 3/8" diameter balance for a non-tilt window, then you want our S400-30. We don't offer a blue-tip option for this but we do offer Green, which carries 14 through 26 pounds. That's a pound or two lighter than your given weight, so you may want to triple check that just to be sure. These 3/8" balances aren't made to carry all that much weight since they're so skinny, so it's very rare that they carry anything heavier than shown.