balance replacement

Home Owner from virginia

Oct 7, 2019 5:04 pm

trayco double hung windows.
the coils on both sides of the lower window have broken. They were lifetime warranted parts for the windows but it seems Trayco has been sold several times and the last company went out of business.
If you can match these double hung balances I would appreciate it..and any hints for reinstalling them.
(I hope by now someone has come up with an easier way to remove these than to cut out the frames.)
I do have a lot of numbers from the top of the window frame but I don't know if any would help for this. The only numbers on the balances are patent numbers. The coils have CMC 125 35 5# stamped on them. I hopethis helps.

2 user uploaded images

8 Replies

Bob from SWISCO

Oct 11, 2019 7:08 am

Thanks for writing in. This looks like our 15-087 Pivot Shoe, which also uses our 15-086 Coil Housing. This shoe is compatible with our Series 180 Coil Springs. A stamp of '5' on the spring itself indicates you need an S180-5 5lb spring. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Home Owner from virginia

Oct 16, 2019 10:16 am

the photo I just sent didn't include the 2 holes at the end of the coil..just in case it matters. There is also a small part to hold the end of the coil.

2 user uploaded images

Tom from SWISCO

Oct 16, 2019 10:27 am

Hello! If you look at our Series 180, you'll see that is also has two holes. I highly recommend reviewing the parts Bob recommended before you do anything else. We have detailed information on each part's store page that you can use as a reference.

As for that top bracket, see our 16-024.

Tom from SWISCO

Oct 16, 2019 2:28 pm

Yep, both springs go onto the hook. It can be a little tricky getting the coil assembly in there, depending on the size of the cutout, but you should be able to snake it in. You then attach both springs to the hook and pull the shoe down in place.

Don't be surprised if it's a little awkward. This coil spring in particular has been frustrating to me in the past. Sometimes it's fine, but other times it takes a lot of patience. It varies from window to window. Try your best and let me know how you manage.

Home Owner from virginia

Oct 16, 2019 2:55 pm

Bob, Tom, thank you, thank you. Is there anything in particular I should know about installing the springs to the mounting bracket. It looked like both springs need to be attached to the hooks.
Thank you so much for your help. I will know where to come if another one breaks.

Home Owner from virginia

Oct 24, 2019 5:15 pm

Tom, just for practice I installed just the coil housing pivot. It went in easily (without the second spring.) Actually, I have looked at other windows and they only have one spring attached and only 1 spring broke on each side of my window. But that isn't the problem. Before I break anything I need to know why the pivot doesn't turn. On the old one the pivot turned but the case also opened to allow the turn. On this new one the case is locked shut and won't allow for the pivot to turn. I hope I am explaining this well enough.

Tom from SWISCO

Oct 28, 2019 8:14 am

That is peculiar. There shouldn't be anything keeping the cam from rotating properly. To be clear, is this for the shoes that you purchased from us? If so, is this an issue on both shoes or just one?

If it's an issue with both shoes, then open the case and make sure there's nothing hanging the cam up. It's possible that it's just a little tight considering it has never been used before. Play around with it, careful not to damage it in any way, and see if you can get it to rotate normally.

If it's an issue with just one, then it could possibly be defective. If that were the case then we'd be happy to send you out a new one. Let me know!