window balance

Question

i just purchased a two S900-16 and two s500 12 spiral balance. Will these work for a tilt in window. Also it appears the S900-16 is not the same diameter as my existing balance. Will it still work? I ordered them apparently in a rush and did not check put your complete line of balances.

Bob · Accepted Answer

Thanks for posting. No, I am afraid the Series 500 will not work for a tilt window; they are meant specifically for non-tilt windows. We have two different kinds of spiral balances typically seen with tilt windows: the Series 900 and the Series 600. The Series 900 has an outer tube diameter of 3/8", whereas the Series 600 has a 5/8" outer diameter. The diameter has to be correct or else the spiral balance is going to fail quickly, or possibly even break. Now, without knowing any details of your original spiral balances, it's impossible for me to narrow these down further--but for tilt windows it should be one of those two balance series. The video below explains more about identifying spiral balance replacements.