Window Balancers

Question

Metal measures 26"
Window weighs 45.5 lbs

See photos. These are NOT the original balancers, and they have failed within a year. Mat be the wrong ones?

The Windows are Quaker aluminum.

Tom · Accepted Answer

Thanks for posting! We can help replace this balance, but it will have to be a special order due to the extra strength spring. The exact calibration of that spring, however, appears to be a point of contention.

So, your current stamp indicates a spring that supports a 54 pound sash, which is obviously heavier than what you say your sash actually is. A balance being too strong could theoretically lead to it failing, but it sort of depends. Could you go into more detail? How exactly did it fail, if you remember? Any clue may help us get to the bottom of this mystery.

In the meantime, we have three options, as I see it. We can supply you with a balance that has the same stamp you have now (25DS54L). There is a chance that the original installers had good reason to use this, especially since they really would have had to go out of their way to get it. When an installer puts in the wrong strength balance it's usually something easy to get that they happen to have lying around. This one is sorta hard to get. It makes me suspicious.

The other two options are to flatly ignore the stamp and go by your sash weight. The issue is that your sash weight falls between two available calibrations, one for 45 pounds (25DS45L) and one for 46 pounds (25DS46L).

It's ultimately up to you. I cannot guarantee how any of these will work, since there is so much doubt in this case, but if I had to give any advice then it would be this: installers can make mistakes, but data never lies. That logic has served me well in this industry. If I were you, I would double check your sash weight and get it as precise as you can, then let me know which of the three options you want to go with (25DS54L, 25DS45L, or 25DS46L). We can work from there.