Handy Tips

A series of tips on servicing your property.

Television System
Setting up your television to work with Greenland Passage's digital system
Cold radiators
Now is the time of year when you turn on your heating for the first time in several months and find that some of your radiators aren't working. This is how to rectify the problem of cold radiators without calling out a plumber.
Replacing your thermostatic radiator valves
This will make a huge difference to your heating as the modern valves react more swiftly than the old ones.
Replacing your hot/cold water pump
Full details and contact numbers on engineers who will replace your pump/pressure vessels.
Leaks
Where do they come from and how do you deal with them?
Shutting off the mains water in your property

Television System

SCC International Ltd are responsible for the provision, maintenance and servicing of the television system.

The television system is comprised of a digital satellite dish sited on the top of King Frederik IX Tower. Both digital and analog signals are sent down the wires into your residence.

If you wish to use the digital signal in order to use Freeview, TESCO sells a Digilogic set-top box for under £30 which delivers good reception.

The box comes complete with 2 SCART sockets and 1 SCART cable to connect to both your TV and video recorder.

The analog signals allow the reception of BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, C4, C5, BBC3, BBC4, ITV2 and BBC News24. These analog signals are decoded from the digital signals received by the satellite dish on the top of King Frederik IX Tower. There will also be the 'original' analog terrestrial channels on a different frequency but these signals will be of poor quality due to the proximity of Canary Wharf and will give images with 'ghosting'.

In order to obtain good reception of all these channels on your television sets they should be tuned to the channels below. You should not rely on auto-tuning on any set since the five terrestrial channels will appear twice during an auto-tune, one signal will have 'ghosting' and the other signal will give better reception

Programme	Channel number
BBC1	C52
BBC2	C42
ITV1	C44
C4	C46
C5	C50
ITV2	C59
BBC News 24	C48
BBC3	C35
BBC4	C54

In the event of a fault arising with your reception, you should contact SCC International by e-mail or telephone:

SCC International Ltd Service and Maintenance Department
sccservice@scci.co.uk

01992-789-658 (Tel.No)
01992-822-763 (Fax)

There is also a general email which is: info@spectrumci.co.uk which automatically goes to everybody – so always worth adding this on.

tracie.williams@spectrumci.co.uk tel: 020 8760 5272 ddi

When reporting a fault, please copy your e-mail to us at matt.kirk@rendallandrittner.co.uk, marked "Greenland Passage TV" in the heading. We will then be able to monitor faults and ensure you receive the service you are entitled to.

If you want to receive SKY television you should also contact SCCI on the number above.

Tracie Williams

Commercial Manager
Spectrum Commercial Installations Ltd
' 020 8722 4758

2 020 8722 4751

1 tracie.williams@spectrumci.co.uk

* Westmead House, Westmead Road, Sutton, Surrey SM1 4JH

David Fogelman: david@spectrum.uk.com tel: 020 8651 5030

Leaks

The first sign of a problem with the plumbing is a leak from one of the overflow pipes from your property.

The town houses have overflow pipes which discharge onto the first floor balcony and into the downstairs shower room. Flats have overflow pipes which discharge straight out of pipes over the rear gardens.

The first thing to determine is the source of the discharge.

If you have hot water in your property and the discharge is warm or hot then you have a problem with the safety valve fitted to your hot water cylinder. The safety valve activates under certain conditions: over-pressure, vacuum and over temperature (see below). A slight dripping from the discharge pipe may be caused by running so much water from the hot water cylinder that the cold supply cannot keep up and a slight vacuum is created, activating the safety valve. When the hot water cylinder fills up with water the valve should close and the dripping should stop. If it persists in dripping you may have some limescale trapped in the valve. This may be dislodged by flushing it out - pull the shiny metal lever on the end of the valve for about 2 seconds. Water will flow out of the valve possibly taking the limescale with it. If this fails to cure the leak (give it 10 minutes for all the water in the pipe to drain out) then the washer inside the valve may need replacing. Generally it's only the washer that needs replacing not the entire valve (a difference of more than £100 pounds). Employ a reputable plumber to do this. You will need to drain the hot water cylinder when the plumber comes before they can dismantle the valve.

If you have a continuous warm/hot discharge then it indicates a problem with either the pressure or the temperature in the hot water cylinder. The temperature is regulated by a thermostat fitted against the metal of the hot water cylinder usually in a cut-out of the cylinder jacket (see right). You should not set the temperature on the dial above about 65 degrees. If the water does not heat up enough and the thermostat is set high it indicates that your thermostat needs replacing. If the temperature of your water is OK but the safety valve is still leaking look at the pressure gauge on your pump. If this is under 1 bar or over 2.5 bar then your pump/pressure vessel needs servicing or replacement. The pressure vessels (blue tanks) should last 10-12 years before they need replacing although the internal rubber diaphragm may need to be changed before that. See the page on replacing your pump. The pumps themselves usually have a lifetime of over 20 years.

If the discharge from the pipe is cold then it's probably from the supply cistern (the top black plastic tank) which means that the ballcock on the mains water feed needs replacing. It's the same sort of ballcock assembly found on all household water tanks. Employ a reputable plumber to replace the ballcock.

Should you need to turn off the mains water in your house or flat there are two mains water stopcocks. One is in the cupboard where your pump/pressure vessel is. You can find it on the copper pipe which leads up to the topmost black water tank. The second can be found in the cupboard under your kitchen sink. It only controls the feed to your kitchen sink, dishwasher and washing machine. It looks like a small chrome block on the pipe (see right). You turn off the water using either an Allen key (small hexagonal bar) in the little hole on the front of the stopcock or a screwdriver in the slot on the front. The use of an Allen key is recommended and plumbers should carry such items.