John,
I must admit I've never had much trouble removing the pins that retain the
window handles. I use one hand to push back the black plastic trim bit
('escutcheon' I believe is the technical term!), and any convenient long
pointy thing to poke the pin out of it's hole. My 12V tester (one of those
things that looks like a screwdriver with a pointy end and a wire out the top
and a light in the handle) works well, as does a straightened-out bit of
coathanger wire - it is amazing the variety of uses I can find for a
coathanger! I then spend 5 minutes looking for the pin that has fallen on the
floor, longer if it is on my gravel drive. I have lost one, and made up
another by cutting a short bit of coathanger wire (again!), this is a bit
loose in the hole but works fine. If you are having problems getting your old
one out, is it too thick, so jamming in the hole?
Replacing is slightly trickier, but not too bad. With one hand hold both the
winder and the escutcheon, with a 1/2" gap between them, and slip on the shaft
until you can see that the holes in the winder and the shaft line up. In the
other hand you will already have the pin, held in the grip of a pair of
needle-nosed pliers. Push the pin in with the pliers, and hope it doesn't
fall out the other end. This is where it helps to have the correct pin, not a
too-thin bit of coathanger wire, as the coathanger wire simply falls straight
through when you let go, so I have to arrange the hole horizontally when
re-assembling to avoid this.
This should really not be too hard, if it is there is something wrong, maybe
your pins have rusted in place?
Good to see another UK lister, there are few enough of us. Are you new, or
just quiet, I don't recognise your name?
Richard and Daffy
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