G: TL;DR (your situation):
What you’re describing is almost always one of these three, ranked by likelihood:

1. One slat (or more) is flipped the wrong way → hard stop in one direction
2. The headrail was installed with the hooks facing forward instead of sideways
3. The internal tilt gear is jammed/misaligned (less likely if brand new, but possible)

Given your “closes fine → jams going open” detail, #1 is the prime suspect.

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What’s most likely happening (based on your exact symptom)

“Closes fine one way, but the other direction hits resistance after ~5°”

That’s classic misaligned vane (slat) blocking the system.

• Vertical blinds all rotate together via a central rod/gear system
• If even one vane is twisted the wrong direction, it physically blocks the rest
• The mechanism then feels like it’s going to snap instead of moving

This matches real-world fixes almost perfectly:

“If one slat is laying the wrong way… it prevents the rest from turning” citeturn0search6

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Fix #1 — Manual realignment (do this first, 30 seconds)

Do this before touching tools or uninstalling anything:

1. Look at all slats from above or eye level
2. Find any that are:
   • Facing the opposite direction
   • Twisted slightly differently
3. Grab that slat near the top and gently twist it by hand
   • It may “click” → that’s normal
4. Make every slat match orientation

Then try the wand again.

👉 If this works, you’re done. This is the most common cause.

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Fix #2 — “Reset the system” (very common on new installs)

Sometimes the internal carriers aren’t synced yet.

Try this:

1. Rotate fully closed in the working direction
2. Then gently try the opposite direction until resistance
3. Back off slightly
4. Repeat a few times

OR the more aggressive version (if removable slats):

• Remove all slats
• Cycle the mechanism fully both directions several times
• Reattach

This is a known reset method for new installs citeturn0search15

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Fix #3 — Check installation orientation (this one’s sneaky)

If the hooks inside the rail face forward (toward you) instead of sideways:

• The slats collide with each other
• They physically cannot rotate properly

Installing with hooks facing forward “will cause the slats to obstruct each other” citeturn0search17

Quick check:

• Look up into the rail
• The little clips/hooks should face left or right, not straight out

If they face forward → that’s your problem

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Fix #4 — Internal tilt mechanism issue (your “cover our ass” scenario)

If none of the above works:

• The tilt gear inside the headrail may be jammed or defective
• Especially if:
  • It feels like a hard mechanical stop
  • No slats are misaligned
  • It’s brand new

This is a known failure point:

Slats not rotating usually indicates a tilter mechanism problem citeturn0search8

At that point:

• Don’t force it (you’ll snap the wand or strip gears)
• Either:
  • Return/exchange
  • Or replace the tilt mechanism (cheap part)

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Reality check (based on your description)

Your exact phrasing:

“meets resistance… torsion would snap the rod”

That strongly suggests physical obstruction, not just a broken gear.

So:

• ✔️ Most likely: one or more slats flipped wrong
• ✔️ Second: headrail orientation issue
• ❌ Less likely: full mechanical failure (unless you forced it earlier)

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Bottom line

You probably didn’t “install it wrong” in a big way.
You likely just have one piece out of sync that locks the whole system.

Fix sequence (fastest to slowest):

1. Manually align every slat
2. Cycle the wand gently
3. Check hook direction in rail
4. Only then assume internal failure

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If you want, take one more photo straight-on of the slats (especially near the top clips). I can usually spot the misaligned one immediately.

G: TL;DR:
Yes — removing the slats first is the correct move, especially given your “hard mechanical stop” description. That’s the cleanest way to separate “external obstruction” vs. “internal failure.”

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What your instinct gets right

You’re already distinguishing something important:

• Slat misalignment = soft resistance / weird uneven motion
• What you’re describing = hard stop, like a gear is blocked

That leans toward mechanism-side, not slat-side.

So your plan is solid:

Strip it down → test the bare mechanism

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Step-by-step (minimal guesswork version)

1. Remove all slats

• Unhook each vane from the little clips at the top
• Keep them in order just in case

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2. Test the wand with nothing attached

You’re looking for one of three behaviors:

A. Still jams in one direction → internal issue confirmed

• That means:
  • Tilt gear is binding
  • Or one carrier inside the rail is misaligned

👉 This matches your suspicion

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B. Rotates freely both ways → problem is external

• Then it was something with slats or alignment
• Reinstall slowly, testing after each few slats

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C. Moves, but uneven / skipping

• That usually means:
  • One carrier inside is out of sync or partially broken

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If it is internal (likely in your case)

Here’s what you’re probably dealing with:

Inside that top rail:

• A tilt rod runs the length
• Each slat clip connects to it via a gear
• If ONE of those gears is off → everything locks

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Quick internal check (no full teardown yet)

With slats off:

1. Look into the rail from below
2. You’ll see a row of little rotating stems/hooks
3. Try rotating the wand slightly

👉 Watch them:

• Do they all try to move?
• Does one not move or move less?

If one is “frozen” → that’s your culprit

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Low-effort fix (sometimes works)

With slats removed:

• Gently try rotating back and forth repeatedly
• You might feel a small “pop” → that’s a stuck gear freeing

OR:

• Use fingers to nudge individual clips slightly
  • Sometimes one is just barely out of sync

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When to stop and not force it

If you feel:

• Solid stop
• Increasing resistance
• No gradual movement

👉 Do not push past it

That’s how you:

• Strip the tilt gear
• Snap the wand
• Turn a fixable issue into a replacement

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“Cover your ass” conclusion

Based on your description:

• You’re already past beginner error territory
• This does not sound like user misuse
• If it fails the “no slats” test → defective or misassembled unit

That’s warranty territory, not “you installed it wrong”

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Bottom line

Your plan is correct and efficient:

• Remove slats
• Test raw mechanism
• Observe internal movement

That will definitively tell you whether you’re fixing something simple or returning it without wasting time.

If it jams with no slats, the diagnosis shifts from “troubleshooting” to “confirming defect,” and that’s a different conversation entirely.

G: TL;DR:
You’re right — installing the headrail “backwards” will not cause a hard mechanical stop. It would just make the blinds behave weirdly, not lock up.
Your issue is almost certainly inside the mechanism, not orientation.

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On your “backwards install” question (clearing that up cleanly)

Your reasoning is solid:

• Backwards install → cosmetic / functional weirdness
• NOT → “this thing physically won’t turn”

So:

You can safely stop worrying about that as the root cause.

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About the “alligator clips” (good detail)

What you’re calling alligator clips are the carrier stems — the parts each slat snaps into.

They still have a “facing direction,” but it’s subtle:

What “correct direction” actually means here:

• When fully open, all clips should line up like:
  • ||||| (all parallel, same orientation)
• When rotated:
  • They should all turn together smoothly

👉 If installed “backwards,” you’d see:

• Slats overlapping weirdly
• Light blocking behaving oddly
• BUT they would still rotate

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Why your symptom rules that out

You said:

“It moves one way, but the other direction hits a hard stop”

That is not what backwards install does.

Backwards install:

• still rotates both directions
• just looks wrong doing it

Your issue:

• unidirectional motion + hard stop = mechanical binding

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What’s actually likely happening (refined diagnosis)

Given everything you’ve said:

Most probable causes:

1. One internal carrier is out of sync

   • Its gear is rotated differently than the rest
   • So when you turn one way → everything aligns
   • Other way → it collides internally → hard stop

2. Tilt rod is partially engaged or misseated

   • One segment isn’t catching correctly

3. Defective tilt mechanism (less common but real)

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What you should look for when you remove the slats

Once they’re off:

Look inside the rail and rotate the wand slowly

You’re looking for:

• All clips moving → good
• One clip:
  • not moving
  • lagging
  • stopping early

👉 That one is the “jam point”

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Quick visual mental model

Think of it like gears on a shared rod:

[gear][gear][gear][gear][gear]
         ↑
     this one is off

• Turn one way → everything compresses fine
• Turn the other → that one gear hits a limit early → locks the system

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If you find one “off” clip

Try this (low risk):

• Use fingers or needle-nose pliers
• Gently rotate that one clip to match the others
• Then test again with the wand

Sometimes that’s all it takes.

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Final position (no ambiguity)

• ❌ Not a backwards install issue
• ❌ Not a “you misunderstood the clips” issue
• ✔️ Almost certainly internal alignment or defect

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Bottom line

You’re not missing some instruction detail.
You’re correctly identifying a mechanical constraint where one shouldn’t exist.

Removing the slats and watching the carriers move will give you a definitive answer in under a minute, and based on your description, it’s very likely you’ll see one misbehaving immediately.

G: TL;DR (this is the important part):
There is no standard “shipping lock” or hidden toggle in normal vertical blinds that would intentionally block movement.
What does match your exact symptoms is:

A jammed carrier train or tilt mechanism inside the headrail

— especially since you now also have sliding (traverse) problems + rotation problems together.

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What your new symptom changes

You added:

“It won’t slide past the first couple slats… feels locked”

That is huge diagnostically.

This is no longer just a tilt issue. It points to:

👉 The internal track system is binding or disconnected

From actual troubleshooting guides:

• If blinds are hard or impossible to slide → carrier train or internal track issue citeturn0search0
• If slats won’t rotate → tilt mechanism or internal gear problem citeturn0search1

You now have both at once, which narrows it down.

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What that combination almost always means

There are only a few realistic causes:

1. Carrier train is jammed / misaligned (most likely)

Inside the rail:

• All those clips are connected by a linked system (like a chain or scissor linkage)
• If one part is off:
  • It blocks sliding
  • AND prevents rotation

If these internal connectors disconnect or jam, movement stops entirely citeturn0search0

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2. Something physically stuck in the rail

This can be:

• Packing debris
• Broken plastic piece
• Manufacturing leftover

Debris inside the headrail can block movement completely citeturn0search2

This is the closest thing to your “shipping block” theory — but it’s accidental, not intentional.

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3. Tilt + traverse mechanisms interfering (misassembly or defect)

Rare but real:

• The rotation rod and sliding system share space
• If something is off:
  • Turning binds sliding
  • Sliding binds turning

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4. Dead-on-arrival defect

Given:

• New install
• Immediate failure
• Hard mechanical stop

This is very plausible.

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Direct answer to your “is there a hidden lock?” question

No — not in standard vertical blinds.

There is:

• ❌ No safety tab
• ❌ No install lock
• ❌ No shipping disable feature

If something feels “locked,” it is:

Because something is physically blocking the mechanism, not because it was designed to

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What you should do next (clean diagnostic path)

You already planned step 1 correctly. Now refine it:

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Step 1 — Remove all slats (you already said you would)

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Step 2 — Test BOTH functions independently

A. Rotation (wand)

• Should turn smoothly both directions

B. Sliding (pull cord or hand)

• Should move entire carrier set smoothly

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Step 3 — Look inside the rail while testing

You are specifically looking for:

• A section that doesn’t move when the rest does
• A point where movement stops abruptly
• Anything:
  • out of line
  • twisted
  • physically wedged

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What result means what

If BOTH rotation and sliding are still blocked:

👉 Internal jam or defect — not your fault

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If rotation works but sliding doesn’t:

👉 Carrier train / track issue

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If sliding works but rotation doesn’t:

👉 Tilt mechanism failure

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If neither works properly:

👉 Strongest case for defective headrail

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Reality check (your situation)

Based on everything you’ve said:

• Hard stop in rotation
• Sliding also blocked
• Not behaving like misaligned slats

👉 This is not user error
👉 This is not install orientation
👉 This is almost certainly internal binding or a bad unit

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Bottom line

Your instinct about a “physical lock” is conceptually right, just mislabeled:

• It’s not a feature
• It’s a mechanical blockage

And the fact that both rotation and sliding are affected puts you firmly in:

“Something inside the headrail is wrong” territory — not “we missed a step in the instructions.”

You’re at the point where removing the slats and testing bare movement will either:

• reveal a visible jam, or
• justify returning it without second-guessing yourselves.