milgard channel balance assy

Home Owner from COLORADO

Feb 17, 2014 2:38 pm

The string on a channel balance broke and I am trying to replace. The channel is 23" long, 1/2" wide and has the following marking:20-5 KF5 CMC 54.

5 Replies

Home Owner from COLORADO

Feb 18, 2014 5:01 pm

See images added

User submitted photos of a window balance.

Tom from SWISCO

Feb 19, 2014 2:54 pm

Hey, thanks for posting. I've narrowed this down to two possible channel balance Series: either our Series 380 or our Series 385 balances.

Now, as you can see, there is only one difference between these two Series, and that is their bottom shoe. The Series 380 uses the 15-005 while the Series 385 uses the 15-004. I can't quite tell what you have based on your pictures, though. Please carefully compare their dimensions to your own hardware and see which is a better match.

Comparison of 15-004 and 15-005

Home Owner from Colorado

Feb 19, 2014 4:42 pm

Tom, I measured the bottom shoe and it appears that the 15-004 Series 385 is the correct replacement. Could you tell which series is required from the marking on the channel which I supplied previously? 20-5 KF5 CMC 54 is the marking.

Tom from SWISCO

Feb 20, 2014 9:24 am

I cannot determine a balance's Series based on the stamp, but I can determine its option. If you have a stamp of 20-5 then you might have our 2050 option. I would just double check the weight of the sash to make sure that's correct. I also recommend double checking the length of the metal channel. With a stamp like 20-5 then you should have a 21" balance, not 23". Do NOT include the nylon attachments when you measure the length! Just the metal channel.