Tilt Window Spiral Balance Parts

Thanks for reaching out to us, Chris. Based on your photo and helpful measurements, my top recommendation is the S900-34 with a White Tip weight option. As for the shoe, I believe this is our 15-045 , but you'll want to remove the original to verify.

As for a starting point for the shoe, I'm not sure what you mean by that. There isn't really a starting point, you just need to make sure each shoe is raised a few inches from the very bottom before you put the sash in. Due to the style of the cams, you also want to make sure that one shoe is a little higher than the other, so that you can put the sash in at an angle. The videos below may be of some assistance.

You could possibly use the Green tip, since it still technically covers 20.4 pounds. However there would absolutely be a downside to using the Yellow Tip. If a balance is too strong in relation to the weight of the sash, then your window will be much more difficult to close. In extreme cases, it will even open on its own.

It's important to understand that a stronger balance is not an upgrade. The way these function is by having constant upward force applied to the sash, which is counter-balanced by the weight of the sash itself. If the sash is lighter than the upward force, then it won't work properly.

You only want the balance that can comfortably hold the sash weight. In your case, White and Green both do that, but neither is better than the other. Whichever one you choose between the two of them is ultimately up to you. 

I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble, but I think I can help guide you.

To start, the pivot shoes should be in the locked position before you install the sash, yes. One trick that might help is to make sure that one shoe is higher up in the track than the other. You'll find that putting the sash in at an angle like that will be a little easier than if they were perfectly parallel. You just have to make sure they even out as you tilt the sash in, which requires a kind of "twisting" motion.

As for the pivot bars, they should definitely be the same length. It seems the tip is broken off the first one, which would definitely cause the issue you're describing. Our 26-375 appears like a match for yours (we also sell the 26-016 spring, if you needed it). This bar does also happen to be fully compatible with the 15-045 pivot shoe.

I can't see any major difference between your shoe and ours, but it's easy enough to verify. The hole in the cam in our shoe is 1/4" wide by 3/16" high. If yours is the same size then it should be compatible with all the same hardware.

I'm very familiar with that area! In fact, I visited Brick not even a month ago. Unfortunately, our business does not have a store front. Our New Jersey location is just a processing facility. Our business is exclusively online at this time. I am very sorry for any inconvenience that may cause.