channel balances will not stay down

Hmm... if I'm reading this right, the balances would shoot up in the channel, preventing your windows from operating properly. Once you took the sash off, you couldn't put it back into the window because the balances still wouldn't stay down.

Sounds to me like it's a problem with the top sash guide. The top sash guide is a plastic clip installed on the two top corners of your sash that keep the balance in place and prevent it from shooting up in the track. See the video below for clarification on how this works. If you think this could be the problem, look at your top sash guides and see if one of them is undamaged. If it is, show us some pictures it out of the window and we can identify it. The best method of taking these photos is one from the front and one from the side, like a mug shot. In the meantime, you can see our entire selection of top sash guides here.