this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2023
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Home Improvement

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Hey all.

Over the past year, I've had bad luck with standard, non-motorized cordless blinds. I've had to replace 4 due to the tension mechanism failing (from what I can tell).

  • I've tried gently exercising the tension mechanism as suggested frequently online. This does not work.
  • I've checked for knots and have found none (I typically expect these for corded blinds).

I've been purchasing the Home Depot brand. Do I need to go for a more expensive brand? Did I just get a bad lot? Should I go for corded for supposedly easier troubleshooting?

Thanks in advance!

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I am not sure if that is what you meant by exercising the tension mechanism

Yep, that's what I meant. I've tried pulling them out perpendicular, at a 45 degree angle, gently tugging on them (as recommended by countless YouTube videos), and even taking it down and pulling the strings myself to try and jumpstart the tension mechanism. No dice.

I have $7 blinds from Menard’s, so I am not talking expensive or nice by any means

I'm thinking maybe I just bought a bad lot. I bought all of these blinds all at once except for one. The original blinds I bought are starting to fail. The one odd blind I bought a bit later than the rest is still going strong. Same brand although it is made slightly different than the others. Thanks for the info though - I'll try store brand again and hope for better luck!