pivot bars keep breaing

Home Owner from Colorado

Feb 11, 2017 6:19 pm

Hi,
I have vertical vinyl windows. The pivot bars keep breaking, and the windows violently slams shut. This has happened a few times now, I've bought a bunch of replacement pivot bars and have replacement balances. I have a toddler, and my concern is that he might get hurt if the pivot bars break again and the window violently slams shut.

I would like to know i) why do the pivot bars keep breaking, and ii) a solution to have a safe window that will not slam shut, even if the pivot bars break again.

Thanks

User submitted photos of window hardware.

8 Replies

Paul from SWISCO

Feb 16, 2017 10:22 am

I don't recall ever using this kind of pivot bar with this kind of window balance. Are the window balances you show in the photo the original that came with the window, or are they more recent replacements?

Home Owner from Lakewood, CO

Feb 16, 2017 10:43 am

These are the balances that were there when i bought the house 5 years ago, I don't know if they are the originals.

Paul from SWISCO

Feb 20, 2017 10:08 am

Hmm. Well, with that in mind, I'm not sure what the issue can be. I do see that you have an older version of our Series 795 channel balance. It could be that they're simply worn out, which would cause the windows to slam shut, breaking the pivot bars. This is just an educated guess, though.

Home Owner from Lakewood, CO

Feb 20, 2017 9:38 pm

Why would a worn out balance break the pivot bars? Can you elaborate more on that?

Paul from SWISCO

Feb 21, 2017 9:33 am

If the balances are worn, they wouldn't be able to hold the window up as well. If the window is closed with enough force, the pivot bars would slam against the sill. This is just a guess, of course. I honestly can't think of any other reason why they'd be breaking like you describe. Your entire setup is peculiar so I can only surmise.

Home Owner

Feb 21, 2017 10:13 pm

Can you direct my question to an engineer? And have that person reach out to me. I'm looking for a solid, technical answer so that I can make an informed decision of what to do next about my windows.

Casey from SWISCO

Feb 24, 2017 2:29 pm

We do not believe this is the original hardware, this could too be a reason why the pivot bars keep breaking. The pivot bar, 26-375, normally works with a pivot shoe like the 15-045, and the 15-045 pivot shoe works with a spiral balance. Now, the Series 795 balance normally takes a pivot bar like the 26-021.

Another note, the tilt latch says "raise sash 2" before tilting", this too is necessary to keep the tilt bar from snapping.