An elderly neighbour has such a blind across a sliding patio door. It is the type with two controls; a chain, which alters the angle of the slats, and a cord loop which moves the blind over or away from the window.
On inspection, I can see that the cord passes through a sliding block which supports the first slat. A knot in the cord, when the cord is pulled to open the blind, easily pushes the block(and slat) along the track. There is no knot (or other method) on the other side of the block by which the block would be pushed in the other direction, which means that the blind won't close.
I tied a slip-knot in the cord adjacent to the block. This seemed to have some of the desired effect, in that the block moved slightly in the correct direction, but the block repeatedly partially jammed so much so that I was reluctant to apply any more pressure in case I pulled whole blind off its fixings.
The lady did tell me(after about an hour) that she once found a piece of metal on the floor under the blind, but she didn't know what it was and threw it away.
Can anyone help, please?

On 02/04/2014 10:29, Mr Fuxit wrote:
An elderly neighbour has such a blind across a sliding patio door. It
is the type with two controls; a chain, which alters the angle of the
slats, and a cord loop which moves the blind over or away from the
window. On inspection, I can see that the cord passes through a
sliding block which supports the first slat. A knot in the cord, when
the cord is pulled to open the blind, easily pushes the block(and
slat) along the track. There is no knot (or other method) on the
other side of the block by which the block would be pushed in the
other direction, which means that the blind won't close. I tied a
slip-knot in the cord adjacent to the block. This seemed to have some
of the desired effect, in that the block moved slightly in the
correct direction, but the block repeatedly partially jammed so much
so that I was reluctant to apply any more pressure in case I pulled
whole blind off its fixings. The lady did tell me(after about an
hour) that she once found a piece of metal on the floor under the
blind, but she didn't know what it was and threw it away. Can anyone
help, please?



It was probably holding the knot next to the block and stopping it twisting.

A spray with PTFE lubricant might help.

"Mr Fuxit" wrote in message
...
An elderly neighbour has such a blind across a sliding patio door. It is the
type with two controls; a chain, which alters the angle of the slats, and a
cord loop which moves the blind over or away from the window.
On inspection, I can see that the cord passes through a sliding block which
supports the first slat. A knot in the cord, when the cord is pulled to open
the blind, easily pushes the block(and slat) along the track. There is no
knot (or other method) on the other side of the block by which the block
would be pushed in the other direction, which means that the blind won't
close.
I tied a slip-knot in the cord adjacent to the block. This seemed to have
some of the desired effect, in that the block moved slightly in the correct
direction, but the block repeatedly partially jammed so much so that I was
reluctant to apply any more pressure in case I pulled whole blind off its
fixings.
The lady did tell me(after about an hour) that she once found a piece of
metal on the floor under the blind, but she didn't know what it was and
threw it away.
Can anyone help, please?

There is a metal clamp fits inside the "trollies" that carry each vertical
slat.
I expect this is what she threw away. You will have to go to a supplier and
get another.
Not easy to fit, the thing has to be taken apart.

On 02/04/2014 10:29, Mr Fuxit wrote:
An elderly neighbour has such a blind across a sliding patio door. It
is the type with two controls; a chain, which alters the angle of the
slats, and a cord loop which moves the blind over or away from the
window. On inspection, I can see that the cord passes through a
sliding block which supports the first slat. A knot in the cord, when
the cord is pulled to open the blind, easily pushes the block(and
slat) along the track. There is no knot (or other method) on the
other side of the block by which the block would be pushed in the
other direction, which means that the blind won't close. I tied a
slip-knot in the cord adjacent to the block. This seemed to have some
of the desired effect, in that the block moved slightly in the
correct direction, but the block repeatedly partially jammed so much
so that I was reluctant to apply any more pressure in case I pulled
whole blind off its fixings. The lady did tell me(after about an
hour) that she once found a piece of metal on the floor under the
blind, but she didn't know what it was and threw it away. Can anyone
help, please?

Just had a quick look at mine. The 'leading' plastic slider is
different from the rest, it's bigger & has a screw head showing.

The cord seems to be a continuous loop fixed at that point. Which would
make sense.

As someone said, try silicone/PTFE spray.

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Thanks,guys. I'll try the silicon/PTFE first.