Glider/Track Piece Broke on Simonton Window

17 years ago

Uh oh :( I had the bottom sash tilted in to clean the window and one side of the window came out of the frame. When I snapped it back in the frame, it wouldn't shut completely. Here is why. The white and gold colored object you see in the frame at the bottom of the window actually belongs in track that frames the glass part of the window. At first, this piece was higher up the frame. In my attempt to try to "snap" it back into place by pushing down (closing) the window, it simply shoved the plastic piece down. It won't budge. DH has tried to get it out and can't. I'm sure the warranty will cover it but I'm wondering if it's something I did or a sub-standard window. If anyone has an idea on how we can fix it ourselves, that would be great.

The second picture is looking up from the windowsill towards

Thanks

Featured Answer

skydawggy

17 years ago

Put a screw driver in the "Denny Clip" that's the gold colored thingy. Turn the thingy counter clockwise or towards the outside. That releases the lock on the Denny Clip. That will allow you to raise it up a couple of inches until it's at equal height to the one on the opposite side. Turn the screwdriver back towards you and the Denny Clip will lock back into place. put the metal pivot pin on both sides of the bottom part of the sash, tilt the sash back into place and you should be good to go.

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Comments (7)

monicakm_gw
Original Author
17 years ago
Thank you for your help skydawggy. DH will try this tomorrow.
I just searched the site for "Simonton" and found the following thread. Is he describing the same problem I just experienced? I couldn't say exactly how high the bottom sash was opened before I tilted it in but I know it was higher than 2".
Monica

Here is a link that might be useful: Simonton Thread
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skydawggy
17 years ago
That guy was a bit of a nut. I tried to help him on another site and all he did was argue when we tried to explain to him that the sash needed to be raised 3-4 inches before tilting it in. He kept insisting the instructions only required 2 inches. We tried to tell him to ignore the instructions and do what we told him to do and he got pissy and showed up here.

The way the Denny Clip operates is the round metal piece in the stile is actually oval. When you tilt the window in. it pushes the plastic piece it sits in outward creating a brake so the whole system locks and won't move. When you place the sash pivot pins back into the slots and tilt the window in, the brake is released allowing the window to slide in the frame. Occasionally if the sash isn't raised high enough, before tilting the window in, the pivot pins can pop out before the Denny Clip is fully rotated 90 degrees. When you put the sash back in, the pivot pins don't seat go the slot and the window doesn't move correctly. Of course most people try to force the window closed and that pushes the entire mechanism to the bottom which is what happened with you. Most likely using the screw diver to turn the Denny Clip cam back and forth usually free's it up. If not it is covered by Simonton's Lifetime Warranty. Other than that, how do you like the wiondows?
monicakm_gw
Original Author
17 years ago
THANK YOU skydawggy :) DH followed your directions and was able to fix the window. From now on I'll make sure the bottom sash is at least 6-7" high before tilting it in.
Thanks again!
Monica
mammy_k
17 years ago
Great information! Useful and it worked and bailed me out! Thanks so much!
nicki19
12 years ago
Thank you for posting the solution to this problem. I broke it the first time I cleaned the window and haven't been able to open it for a year. Google popped into my head yesterday and decided to look it up. Thank you so much again... It took me 5 minutes to fix.
Jonathan Lowe
11 years ago
This may help us with some of our problems with our Simonton windows too. I think we have the problem as described as well as a cracked window and several broken latch / clips at the top of the lower frames. I've been the the Simonton site for information and parts but this was more descriptive of the problem. Thanks.