Fixing a stripped Anderson window crank without having to replace the whole mechanism. Time needed: ~15 minutes What you need: Screwdriver(s) for your trim screws Small cold chisel/masonry chisel Hammer
This fix worked perfectly for me. I worked at crimping the sleeve with a chisel, as in the video, and I also had success squeezing the outer edge of the sleeve with a vise grip. Once things started bending inward, I tried to crimp the collar inward by using a series of decreasing ratchet sockets, placing them over the inward bending collar, and pounding them with a hammer. It's now the smoothest working Andersen casement in the house.
Thanks for this video!! It worked on my window! Although with my assembly, there was a nylon spacer washer BEHIND the collar, which prevented the collar from going in far enough to crimp the outside. I just removed the spacer washer and it crimped in just fine. This is a low-use window anyway, so it only gets opened a few times a year. Not worth spending the $50 for a new assembly.
This fix worked perfectly. Your video along with the tips in the comments made this an easy fix. As your video indicates, the metal collar is the weak point of the whole mechanism. People are talking about the gears being stripped which isn’t the case. The cause of the issue, too much force being applied to the soft metal housing, can be from trying to crank a locked window, but also having dirty track slides is going to be a contributing factor too. One should definitely clean and lube the slide tracks when making this fix so that everything slides easily. I disagree with your statement that the correct way to fix this is to replace the mechanism. I think you have the “correct” way to fix this, replacing the mechanism would take much longer and cost much more. It’s poorly designed and/or purposely designed to break. Amazing they are getting $40-50 for replacement mechanisms and I’ll bet most people replace the whole mechanism. When fixing mine I removed the nylon spacer that sits behind the metal ring. This gave a little more room to close up the housing around the ring. It took quite a bit of coaxing to get the metal ring to drop back into the housing but once it did, then it was obvious that is was seated down in the correct position. Thank you for the helpful vid.
Moved into a new house, my 5 year old son opened his 2nd floor window all the way, come to find out the crank was stripped. Your video worked perfectly!! Thank you for your service!
Wow - this worked like a charm - in less than 5 minutes! I used a long 1/2" socket to punch the ring back into place and then I used the cold chisel trick as you described. Thank you so much for making this video - it saved me!
Clearly I'm the only one who became obsessed w/the bee on the lower corner of the window when he cranked it open the first time. Then when he opened & closed the window again, I think I JUST caught sight of one of its legs as it tried desperately to get in the house (approx 1:47) again only this time I think he got crushed. 😁 Aside from that this looks like a nice easy fix and with all the great reviews I'm going to try this! Thank you
Good video. I did this repair Prior to watching this video. co-workers forced the worm gear again Popping that Collar out again. So think I might need epoxy in addition to staking the metal around that Collar to make the repair more robust.
Great tip. I have 5 or so failed of 13 windows around the house. So frustrating, and the mechanisms for mine aren't made anymore. I might go further and epoxy in a collar fix of some type.
Though a good short term fix, I do not recommend this approach. The main issue with using a chisel, is that you have made relief cuts into it. within a few years, the problem will be back but this time around it will tear itself open with no chance of repair. Also you run the risk of loosening the mechanism off the sill. It's better to remove the bottom trim with a small pry bar (usually there are only two finish nails), remove the mechanism, fix it in a vice and use two hammers to bring it back to the shape. Place the smaller hammer on the edge at proper angle to curve it back in, and with the other hammer hit the small hammer. Do it all around until it's uniformly curved back in. Cut a small piece of 1/2" copper pipe. Put it over the collar you just shaped and hit with hammer a couple of times to seat the collar back onto the ring. This ensures that it will take at least the same number of years for the problem to resurface. Use the opportunity to degrease everything, and put fresh grease. I would use lubricant on the ring as well. This whole thing shouldn't take more than 20 minutes including installing the trim back. To make sure the problem never happens, keep things clean with wd-40 over years, and from time to time use actual lubricant instead of wd-40. Doing this will ensure there won't be much stress on the collar. The two pins that the sash pivots around are the main culprits. The absolute best way to lubricate them is to take the sash off to access the pins and exercise them back and forth while soaking in wd-40. I don't recommend taking the sash off if you don't have someone to help you put it back unless you are experienced doing it.
Thank you for your comment. You have provided a good alternative fix for those who are willing to take apart their trim but not ready to spend the money on a replacement crank assembly. The intent of this video as noted within is to avoid the hassle of taking apart the trim, which is simple to do but risks breaking the trim and then requires nail hole filling, sanding, caulking, and re-painting to get it back together and looking nice, assuming you can match the paint. Of course if no paint, much easier! As you point out, the biggest thing to prevent relapse is to address the root cause problem which may be dirt or gunk in tracks and lack of lubrication. The idea in this video is to basically crimp the collar, not actually cut it, and I have not had any relapse of the problem in several years.
After studying the broken crank for weeks I came to the same conclusion re: down & dirty repair! I didn't have the courage to actually do it until seeing this great video. Thanks!! Major suggestion however: popping out the brown plastic cover (you were too secretive!) is a major challenge in itself. I urge everyone to see this additional video link here to explain how to get that stubborn cover off. Nothing more annoying than things that look easy but are not!!! BTW I used an adjustable hand clamp not a huge vise grip! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-K0fNBU_OxrE.htmlsi=VlyNhZX9I_3TUSPy
