Hello,

I have a newish (vinyl) double-hung replacement window in which the upper sash won't stay up (no idea if my terminology is correct). It's been a while since it broke. It would simply fall down if I didn't catch it. It's almost 38" wide so it's pretty heavy. I have metal bars (rackmount server rails) propped in there to hold it up right now, like a jail. :)

I've looked around a little bit; it angles in for cleaning so I did that and tried to see if I could tell what's wrong. The upper window (sash?) appears to be okay. I haven't seen any strings or cords in the sides, but I did find a "rod" in the right side that appeared to have one broken end. I haven't taken the whole thing apart to see if a string fell down into the jamb (it's been too cold), nor could I find a model or manufacturer in an obvious place...

From various Google searches, I found this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc4qWX3Gwdo

It seems like my broken part is the "balance spring". Assuming this is the right part, how would I know what to buy to fix it? Is there a standard or likely place to find the model, or are these things universal? What else should I look at?

Thanks,
Josh