OK. you have Caldwell Stainless Steel Sipral balances. Thery are quite commmon in older replacement windows. After a while they fail and have to be replaced. I beleive they are available on line along with the proper adjustment tool. From the sounds they are making they need to be replaced and just adjusted. You figure the size you need by measuring them tip to tip. Find a source and they are EZ to replace. The PorchGuy Here is a link that might be useful: My Album

Sounds like a window with a spring counterbalance instead of just a weight. Some older designs still used cord to connect to the spring, often concealed in the window track itself. Sash weight are not small things about 1.5 inches diameter and 10-12 inches long, and need a decent size weight pocket to operate.

I would recomend Uniframe Windows. If you are looking for windows that will go with at older home, they are perfect. They have the look of a tradiational wood window, but all the great benifits of vinyl. They not only meet the energy requirements for today but they meet the furture requirements for 2013. Below is some information that I posted under a different topic but might answer some questions for you. Hello, This is in response to alot of what I have read on this site. Here are the plain and simple truths about windows in general for just about everywhere in the United States. You need to ask yourself one simple question... Do you want to spend money on windows or do you want your windows to pay you? The real truth is that all dual pane windows are absoulete. The very best dual pane window on the market barely meets the Energy Star requirements. In 2013 all new construction windows are going to have to be triple pane. The dual pane window was patented in 1865. Do you need gas between the glass? FOR SURE! It IS the insulating barrier between the air temperature outside your home. A better question to ask yourself is... what is keeping that gas between the glass? The ONLY spacer system (spacer is what keeps the 2 or 3 panes of glass apart) that is designed to hold gas is the Intercept U-Channel spacer. **BEWARE** Any window made with a product titled "Super Spacer" is not designed to hold gas. It is a silcon foam rubber that applied with double sided sticky tape. Do you need to have insulated frames? Do you need to have insulated walls? Of course you do... it's standard building code to insulate house why not windows? It really is not expensive for a manufacutre to spray your typical hollow vinyl frames with an expanding insulating foam... why dont they? COST... they dont care how your windows perform as long as they meet the minimum energy requirements. Did you know that energy is going up at an average of 25% each year. That really means that your energy bills are doubling every 3 years. How many times does your energy bill have to double before you realize that your AC/HEAT is turning on 7-10 per hour! Why wouldnt you want to replace your windows with the most energy effcient window possible? You can save 50% on your energy bills... in writing. Dont you want your windows to be just as insulated as your walls? Triple pane with Kyrpton is R10 at the glass and R-23 at the frame. The truth is all dual pane windows are made EXACTLY the same... Ply Gem, Milgard, Simonton, Alin, Amerimax, Superior, Anderson, Xact... etc... need I keep going. All these windows provide the same insulating factors and roughly the same Air influtration stats. If you are really considering you windows with dual pane I would go for the cheapest thing that you can find becuase they are all sub-par. If you are looking to buy replacement vinyl windows and would like to know what the average homeowner is spending on replacement windows, or any other home improvement project check out... www.costvsvalue.com The average home owner on west coast is spending $12509 to have (10) 3' x 5' DUAL pane windows replaced. Price includes labor and removal. Thats $1250 per hole, thats about what you can expect from a quality company to have replacement windows installed. You could have a couple of guy work out of the back of thier truck do it for less but you WILL have bad results... If you pay peanuts you are going to get monkeys. Replacing windows is not a cheap project and homeowners should be aware that this a pricing purchase. I have seen windows got into homes that cost well over $150,000... Just for Marvin Wood... The idea is buy windows that are going to last a long time, a life time. I know way to much about the subject, but I can assure you that I do not work for penquin windows, nor do i work for Great Lakes windows. My Uniframe triple pane windows are the best INVESTMENT that I have ever made. (Please note... this was not spell checked nor prof read, my apologies if you cant understand my tying.)

My point is that many points have been confusing or misleading. Soft-Lite is called mid-sized in some post then Alside is called a large company to suit ones point. One says that large companies are much more likely to fold than smaller ones, but now just as easily. If I were a betting man, I would place my bets on the "large" companies(i'll say over a billion in gross sales) over all the others and especially the small ones (less than 15 million). I would take the top 50 over bottom 50 as well. Poor examples of large failed companies were used to make a point and not one mention of all the failed small companies.