Helpful
Hints & Tricks
Now that you understand that it’s your responsibility to carry out these actions carefully, here are a few tips we have learned about maintaining our units. If you don’t find what you need here, you are welcome to reach out to a member of our Volunteer Group.
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If you don’t find what you need, let us know and we will find someone to write up some instructions.
Electric Door Lock
Figure 1. Opening the cover
Figure 2. What's inside th cover
Figure 3. Striker Plate in Door Jamb
So, we all have these things. But nobody left the instructions, right?
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Here are a few hints to make them work better (read: more reliably).
ALWAYS CARRY A BACKUP KEY! Even if your key has “do not duplicate” stamped on it, most locksmiths will cut them for you. (Canadian Tire and Home Hardware cut keys.)
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Opening the cover: Tools required: NONE
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Grasp the two bottom corners of the upper cover firmly and pull outward (See Fig 1).
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Changing the batteries: 4 x AA cells. Nominally, they last a year. If you live here full time, change them about every 9 months.
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Programming a new code (No guarantees on this part. Remember your old code!!)
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Prop the door open.
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Unlock the deadbolt.
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Touch the program button, on the left below the batteries, for 5 sec.
Wait.
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Hear 3 beeps.
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Touch your new 4-8 number code. The motor should try to open the already-open deadbolt.
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Touch the lock button. Deadbolt should actuate.
Try your new code.
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Deadbolt should open.
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Problems?
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Deadbolt fails to actuate or de-actuate fully when you press the “lock” button, even with the door open.
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Tools required: None - but you will need either WD-40 or white (lithium) grease, both available at Canadian Tire or Home Hardware.
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Are your batteries strong?
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Look at Fig 2. You can see a can motor and some gears, right centre.
Lubricate the gears with WD-40 or lithium grease
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Try actuating the deadbolt with the keypad again. Does it move any easier?
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Deadbolt works fine with the door open, but sometimes or always binds in the door jamb when you try to lock it with the “lock” button.
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Tools required: Small slot and common size #2 Philips screwdrivers, possibly needle nose pliers.
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The likely cause is a misalignment of the bolt with the bolt-hole plate.
That alignment is controlled by the position of the latch in the striker plate when the door is closed.
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Close the door gently until it latches.
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Gently turn the deadbolt lever WITHOUT putting ANY pressure on the door (i.e. don’t pull it or push on it). Does the bolt slide easily into the bolt hole without touching the bolt hole plate at all? Probably not if you’ve got this far.
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Gently pull or push the door in or out from its relaxed position. You will likely feel some “sloppiness” in where the door could be in the jamb. By trial and error, determine where the door should land for the bolt to slide smoothly into the bolt hole.
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Look at Fig 3.
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The plate (that’s the latch striker plate) contains a little tab in the hole. That tab has a slot in it. Stick a small blade screwdriver into that slot and bend the tab in or out to change where the door lands and latches in the jamb. Play with this until the relaxed closed door position allows the bolt to slide smoothly into its hole.
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Is the little tab broken or weak?
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Exchange the striker plate with a similar one from a different door in your unit that gets much less use and doesn’t require perfect alignment.
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Having tried everything else, the deadbolt lever and bolt system still move like someone used honey instead of oil or grease in the moving parts:
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If so, the whole assembly comes off the door with a few screws, one of which is visible in Fig 2 on the left side of the assembly, just above the beige plastic cover. You may also need to have your key handy. Not for the faint of heart, but Harry found it helped a bit.
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Having said all that, sometimes it is simply time to replace. Contact PEKA with the form found here to request a new lock. .
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Questions or comments? Let us know.
Smoke Detector Replacement
The smoke detectors in your unit belong to you. They are not wired into the overall building system. So, if you burn the toast and set off the smoke detector in your kitchen there isn’t going to be a building evacuation or visit from the Canmore Fire Department.
HOWEVER, as our buildings are more than ten years old, your smoke detectors are likely now past their effective date. There is an expiry date on each smoke detector unit. Owners are responsible for their replacement.
The model that works easiest is BRK 9120BA, available from AMRE supply in Calgary. If you are handy enough to SAFELY replace a hard-wired light fixture and have a short (2-step) ladder you can probably do this yourself. If you have questions, contact the Board.
Please email PEKA (bvadmin@peka.ca) when you have completed this.
Water Shutoff Valves
How to use your water shutoff valves
Fig 1. Plastic plate in front hall closet
Fig 2. Hot (insulated) and cold water supply lines to your unit. Open position.
Fig 3. Water Supply Valves in Closed position
Fig 4. Water Shutoff Valve Helper Knob
Your unit has TWO different water supplies. The first is the hot water floor heat. It is NOT the subject of this note.
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Here, we’re talking about the main hot and cold water lines that supply your drinking, toilet, and washing water.
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Why are they REALLY important to you??
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Two reasons:
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First, anything that happens to do with water on your side (above) these valves, or the valves themselves, is YOUR responsibility. Below these valves, it’s the Condo’s responsibility. The real significance of that is that if something goes wrong while you are away (like a leak from your fridge’s water dispenser unit or a cracked or leaking toilet) YOU will be responsible for the damage, not only to your own unit but at least a portion of the cost of whatever damage the leak does to common and other units’ property.
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Our Condo Corporation Strongly recommends that whenever you are away from your unit for a long period, even just one night, you get into the habit of closing those valves when you leave. This note shows you how to do that.
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Second, if you need to do anything with your plumbing inside your unit like replacing a tap washer or fixing a toilet flush mechanism, shutting off these valves allows you to do that.
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Locating Your Valves: the hot and cold water lines each have a main water shutoff valve. They are always located together, and they are typically close to the front door of your unit, likely in a closet, behind the drywall. Fig. 1 shows a typical plastic plate in the back wall of our front hall closet. Pop the plate off (easy) and behind it (Fig. 2) are the valves.
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Can’t find them?
Sometimes they are in the same panel as the floor heating valves, but wherever they are, the valves always look like Fig.2.
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Fig. 2 shows the valves in the OPEN position (handles lined up with the pipes)
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Do they work?
Try to close the valves. That involves giving them a 1/4 turn to the right (Clockwise) until the handles are ACROSS the pipes (Fig 3).
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Can’t make them budge? ****DANGER!!!!**** Notice that the lines are plastic and not firmly secured in the wall. Using excessive force (more than a strong person can exert with their hand) risks breaking the valves or the lines, and then you REALLY have a mess on your hands! It’s time to call a plumber, who will take responsibility for the mess if something gets broken. They will either loosen the valves to the point you can move them, or they will install new valves that you can use in the line on your side of the original set.
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Even if the valves do work, they may be stiff and awkward to operate. We have devised a simple helper that doesn’t add a lot of force and makes it a lot easier to open and close the valves. See Fig. 4.
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Making this requires only a scrap of 2 X 4, a power drill, a hole saw 2 inches or more in diameter (usually used for drilling holes in doors for locksets), and a 1/4″ chisel.
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Cut a plug out of the scrap 2 X 4.
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Chisel a slot in the top of the plug, 1/4″ wide, 1/4″ deep, and 1 1/8″ long, as shown in Fig. 4. This doesn’t have to be fine carpentry, as fig. 4 shows.
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When you want to close or open the valve, fit the knob over the handle and turn. Remember - Righty-tighty, Lefty-loosey.
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Alternatively, GENTLY using pliers will work too.
Let us know if you have any questions or comments.