Doors and Windows - american craftsman replacement window
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tom doyle
08-18-02, 08:08 AM
how do i keep the top window from falling down, or the bottom window from closing by itself. is there some kind of adjustment on the window
Tn...Andy
08-18-02, 05:18 PM
Tom, do your windows have a metal tube on the side tracks ?
The lower sash will probably have a cover over the tube, but you should be able to see the one on the upper sash when it is lower, if the window uses that type balancer.
The lower sash will probably have a cover over the tube, but you should be able to see the one on the upper sash when it is lower, if the window uses that type balancer.
tom doyle
08-19-02, 06:37 PM
these are american craftsman windows. with a spiral type balancer in the sash. there are 3 type of settings this spiral can go into for some kind of adjustment this is where the window hangs on .
Tn...Andy
08-19-02, 07:05 PM
THere is a special tool for this, but you can do the same thing with a pair of needle nose pliers and a pair of regular pliers.
First, you have to remove the sash for the balencers you want to adjust. Tilt the sash out like to wash, then tilt the side of the sash up or down on one side, freeing it of the "shoe".....the pivoting point where the sash pin connects to the balancer.
With the sash out of the way, use the needlenose pliers to pull the end of the balancer free of the shoe. MAKE SURE YOU HOLD IT TIGHT......if you turn loose, all the twist in the spiral will come loose. Now take the other pair of pliers in your other hand, and turn the spiral a couple of turns in the tighten direction....the direction of resistance. Then re-insert the end back in the shoe like it was. Do the same thing on the other side. Then re-install the sash to see if you have tightened the spiral enough to suit you.
First, you have to remove the sash for the balencers you want to adjust. Tilt the sash out like to wash, then tilt the side of the sash up or down on one side, freeing it of the "shoe".....the pivoting point where the sash pin connects to the balancer.
With the sash out of the way, use the needlenose pliers to pull the end of the balancer free of the shoe. MAKE SURE YOU HOLD IT TIGHT......if you turn loose, all the twist in the spiral will come loose. Now take the other pair of pliers in your other hand, and turn the spiral a couple of turns in the tighten direction....the direction of resistance. Then re-insert the end back in the shoe like it was. Do the same thing on the other side. Then re-install the sash to see if you have tightened the spiral enough to suit you.
Jackofalltradez
08-30-02, 02:26 PM
Are these vinyl double-hung replacements?
If so an alternative to struggling with the balances is to tilt the sashes in, as above, but instead look for following:
Inside the frame rail where the balances are should be screws that control how much the side jambs bend inward(towards middle of window).
Adjust 1/2 a turn at a time until sash require some effort to raise & lower them. This may involve removing any caulk around the side jambs in order to be effected properly.
The responses to this post indicate just how poorly the vinyl window industry has informed handymen and carpenters of all the adjustments available/critical to proper installation of vinyl replacement windows.
Regards,
Jack
If so an alternative to struggling with the balances is to tilt the sashes in, as above, but instead look for following:
Inside the frame rail where the balances are should be screws that control how much the side jambs bend inward(towards middle of window).
Adjust 1/2 a turn at a time until sash require some effort to raise & lower them. This may involve removing any caulk around the side jambs in order to be effected properly.
The responses to this post indicate just how poorly the vinyl window industry has informed handymen and carpenters of all the adjustments available/critical to proper installation of vinyl replacement windows.
Regards,
Jack
Tn...Andy
08-30-02, 08:22 PM
Ahahahahaha:)
You don't like my response ? I'm not a handyman, Jack.....I put them in for a living.....probably 20,000 or so in the last 12 years.
And screwing the jamb adjuster out enough to tighten the jamb against the sash is not what the jamb adjuster is for....which is WHY the window companies don't tell you to do that. The jamb adjuster is to straighten the jambs and tighten the gap that sometimes is in the center up to the weatherstriping on the side of the sash....just up to the weatherstrip, not bind the sash.
Get it tight enough to bind the sash, and you'll usually slide the weatherstriping out of it's slot as you lower or raise the sash.
"HEY.....where did this pipe cleaner come from ?" :)
Personally on the subject of adjusters, about every jamb adjuster I've ever seen is a piece of junk...most won't work as intended....way too small a screw to torque enough and if the window is caulked outside under trim coil, YOU AIN'T moving that jamb later with that little thing.
I never use the things....If the window needs one, and that's usually only tall windows, I run a 3" screw thru the side of the jamb just above the point the shoe travel stops on the inside sash track....bottom the screw against the vinyl, then reverse it to pull the jamb over to the correct gap. Works 10 times better than anything the factories ever came up with, plus it holds the jambs if pressure is apllied in an inward or outward direction. Cutting threads in the vinyl jamb when you run it in make a VERY strong point.
The spiral balancer is made to tighten or loosen just as I described.....though the correct tool DOES make it easier, you can do it as I described if you don't have one.
And if anyone is shopping windows, the newer constant force balancers ( looks like a tape measure mounted on the side, and has a steel ribbon that comes out to the shoe like a tape) is a LOT better balancer. Been using them for the last couple of years and have yet to see a problem...nothing to adjust and they don't fall apart like a lot of the spirals do.
Still chuckling,
andy :)
You don't like my response ? I'm not a handyman, Jack.....I put them in for a living.....probably 20,000 or so in the last 12 years.
And screwing the jamb adjuster out enough to tighten the jamb against the sash is not what the jamb adjuster is for....which is WHY the window companies don't tell you to do that. The jamb adjuster is to straighten the jambs and tighten the gap that sometimes is in the center up to the weatherstriping on the side of the sash....just up to the weatherstrip, not bind the sash.
Get it tight enough to bind the sash, and you'll usually slide the weatherstriping out of it's slot as you lower or raise the sash.
"HEY.....where did this pipe cleaner come from ?" :)
Personally on the subject of adjusters, about every jamb adjuster I've ever seen is a piece of junk...most won't work as intended....way too small a screw to torque enough and if the window is caulked outside under trim coil, YOU AIN'T moving that jamb later with that little thing.
I never use the things....If the window needs one, and that's usually only tall windows, I run a 3" screw thru the side of the jamb just above the point the shoe travel stops on the inside sash track....bottom the screw against the vinyl, then reverse it to pull the jamb over to the correct gap. Works 10 times better than anything the factories ever came up with, plus it holds the jambs if pressure is apllied in an inward or outward direction. Cutting threads in the vinyl jamb when you run it in make a VERY strong point.
The spiral balancer is made to tighten or loosen just as I described.....though the correct tool DOES make it easier, you can do it as I described if you don't have one.
And if anyone is shopping windows, the newer constant force balancers ( looks like a tape measure mounted on the side, and has a steel ribbon that comes out to the shoe like a tape) is a LOT better balancer. Been using them for the last couple of years and have yet to see a problem...nothing to adjust and they don't fall apart like a lot of the spirals do.
Still chuckling,
andy :)
Jackofalltradez
09-03-02, 07:16 AM
I wasn't insult YOUR intelligence or that of any other person in your trade. But I know from personal experience that not only did the sash slide down on my parents' vinyl windows, but when my Mom tilted the sash in to clean the outside, she nearly got clobbered when one of then got airborne!
The contractor simply neglected to follow the jamb adjustment step.
(Yes the sash was straight when she released it!)
Now I'm not talking about adjusting the jambs so tight that you crush the weather seals, just enough so that the business end of the adjusters makes solid contact with the sides of the hole the replacement is going in.
I agree with you that jamb adjusters are useless - but only for windows 24" or less in height(chest-level sills you find in the bathroom). But anything over that - the adjusters WILL work. It fixed the problem in my parents home - and saved additional heat and cooling $$$s.
-Jack
The contractor simply neglected to follow the jamb adjustment step.
(Yes the sash was straight when she released it!)
Now I'm not talking about adjusting the jambs so tight that you crush the weather seals, just enough so that the business end of the adjusters makes solid contact with the sides of the hole the replacement is going in.
I agree with you that jamb adjusters are useless - but only for windows 24" or less in height(chest-level sills you find in the bathroom). But anything over that - the adjusters WILL work. It fixed the problem in my parents home - and saved additional heat and cooling $$$s.
-Jack
Tn...Andy
09-03-02, 09:59 AM
I didn't take it as an insult Jack.....as I told a lady one day that was giving me a dressing down " I've been cussed by the best and you ain't even close" :) ahahahahaha
The jambs do need adjusting to prevent what happened to your Mom....somebody didn't the job right......but to adjust them as a means of overcoming an incorrect spring tension isn't the way to go....
By the way, a lot of the newer windows on the market use a different type of "pin" on the pivot point where it goes in the shoe that is connected to whatever type spring that window has.....the pin has a "collar" so it locks in the shoe and almost can't come out even if you get one side or the other too out of level when tilted out. That used to be one of my worst problems with windows....customers would get them out of the trackshoes, and I'd have to drive all the way to their house to show them how to put it back in and how not to let the sash get out of level when tilted out.......This deal really is a "new and improved" one.
The jambs do need adjusting to prevent what happened to your Mom....somebody didn't the job right......but to adjust them as a means of overcoming an incorrect spring tension isn't the way to go....
By the way, a lot of the newer windows on the market use a different type of "pin" on the pivot point where it goes in the shoe that is connected to whatever type spring that window has.....the pin has a "collar" so it locks in the shoe and almost can't come out even if you get one side or the other too out of level when tilted out. That used to be one of my worst problems with windows....customers would get them out of the trackshoes, and I'd have to drive all the way to their house to show them how to put it back in and how not to let the sash get out of level when tilted out.......This deal really is a "new and improved" one.