I have two ropes apparently attached to weights inside the wall that come down on pulleys and they are attached to a window in my house on both sides.
I cannot close the window. I hear the weights when I try and plaster and old paint fall down when I attempt to close it.
Other previous owners have attempted to close the window and have apparently had success as there are small bits of glass missing from said window, which must have resulted from taking a hard swing downward and a big slam at the bottom.
This is the dumbest invention I have ever seen and I don’t understand the purpose of such a window apparatus.
I’m told that in the event that you have two Sache Weight Windows together, that they can even share a weight betwixt them; but mine only has one Window.
It seems that the one pulley turns while the other does nothing at all. The one rope moves and the pulley turns but the other is stuck fast.
Best Answer
Your windows are very old and things have worn out, warped, etc. The sash weights are there to counterbalance the weight of the window. When the tracks (guides on each side of the frame) are clear and the pulleys are not frozen, these windows move quite smoothly. Unless some major incorrect repair was done on the window, it'll stop fully open, fully closed, or anywhere in between because it's in balance with the weights.
If one pulley & rope is not moving, then of course there'll be slack somewhere and the counterbalancing sash weight doesn't come into play.
That said, they are infamous for not sealing well. That's the price of having a wooden guide with a wooden runner. At some point someone will have to cough up installing new energy-efficient windows and frames.