What are these upvc window parts?

Feb 03, 2014 15 Replies

Just had two upvc tilt-and-turn windows delivered. Each one came with four of these parts:



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Any idea what they are? They're 10cm long and 1cm deep and about 4.5cm front to back.



I can't see any part of the frame or opener that they interlock with.



I found the manufacturer's specifiers' guide online which identifies them (very helpfully) as "ancillaries, mouldings." LMO301 on page 13:



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They look like the shims used between wall and frame during istallation.

On Monday 03 February 2014 11:34 harryagain wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Look more like bridge packers (used at the bottom and sometimes round the side of the recess where the glazing fits).

It's hard to be sure frm that drawing. Bridge packers can be generic or they can be made to clip into a particular frame which then it would make sense they had a part number.

Tim Watts wrote in news:qlb4sa-79i.ln1 @squidward.local.dionic.net:

Do they fit into the rebate below an opening sash to take some of the weight to prevent the sash from dropping?

Tim Watts wrote in news:qlb4sa-79i.ln1 @squidward.local.dionic.net:

Do they fit into the rebate below an opening sash to take some of the weight to prevent the sash from dropping?

They don't look like either the bridge packers, or the shims from my windows, but then mine were not tilt&turn, and I suppose each manufacturer is different

Guess, you'll have to contact the supplier ...

WTF.

Almost as bad as asking for directions !!

Baz

Thanks for all the replies.

I swallowed my pride and rang the manufacturer.

They clip into the sash to support the packers when the unit is toed and heeled.

I didn't think there was room for them in the sash but obviously there is. The chap at tech services was very friendly anyway.

On Monday 03 February 2014 16:02 mike wrote in uk.d-i-y:

So they are bridge packers then :)

Thanks again for all the replies.

Yes, they are bridge packers. Here they are fitted:

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I thought they were a crap fit until I realised you had to give them a heft y shove to clip them in place. Obviously I was being too wary of breaking s omething. I guess if they're designed with window fitters in mind, they mu st be strong enough to survive a good whack with a rubber mallet.

There are four per window and with them in the toe/heel positions (two hing e-side bottom, two lock-side top), the sealed unit seems a snug fit without additional flat packers.

Is this the right way or, at least, an OK way to do things?

I'm assuming I don't need to stuff the opposite corners with flat packers a s these will just tilt into the profile anyway without further bridge suppo rt.

These, by the way, are the run-up blocks (as mentioned by Colin) that were factory fitted:

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A very similar profile to the bridge packers when seen out of context.

I also discovered that these are "tilt after turn" windows whose existence I was previously unaware of. I thought I'd somehow fitted the handles wron g until I Googled and found out that some tilt first and others turn first. Slightly miffed that the suppliers didn't mention this as I think the han dle position is somewhat counterintuitive.

Strangely, searching for info on the web turns up lots of useful and detail ed stuff on US sites but the UK manufacturers/suppliers seem strangely reti cent to provide information about their own products.

On Tuesday 04 February 2014 16:24 mike wrote in uk.d-i-y:

You are very lucky. Usually you need some additional shims (or glazing packers). Also you are lucky of the bridge packers clip in at all - first few windows I did had some generic ones supplied. Glaziers tick is to glue them in with some silicone prior to glazing.

No - you usually only pack two diagonally opposite corners - the corners that would tend to collapse togther under the window's own weight.

Seems par for the course... Like buying a nice bog and they supply a s**te flush mechanism that gies straight in the bin.

Aren't these all the same? Don't turners become tilters when you rotate the handle by 90, and vice versa.

Tilt and turn: move the handle up to the horizontal position, window opens like a casement window; move into vertical position, window tilts.

Tilt after turn: handle horizontal, window tilts; handle vertical, casement action.

So yes, 90 degrees makes the difference but it's the order of the difference...

On my windows, the bridge packers (along with extra packers of varying thickness in most cases) went between frame and sealed unit, heeling nd toeing in case of doors and opening windows, these ones look like they go between the fixed frame, and opening frame? So are they "special" for tilt&turn?

My bridge packers having raised edges so they don't block water's path to the drain holes in the frames.

Thanks, the first one I test fitted seemed snug on the bridge packers so ho pefully the second will be too. I'm assuming that snug is acceptable and t hat levering something in overdoing it. Since UPVC can expand quite a bit in hot weather, I'd be wary of stressing the unit if something were jammed in at all costs -- as I've seen someone doing on a Youtube video.

No, they go between the frame and sealed unit.

That's what these are like with a profile to maintain the drainage channels.

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