I have a very old system with a back boiler, and a header tank in the loft. It has a TF1 filter, fitted 5 years ago, but has largely been neglected over the years.
In September I tried the heating and it wouldn't come on. Also, the header tank was full of brown sludge, which I cleared out. Turned out to be a blocked cold feed so cut out some of the pipe to clean it all out and closed it up again. This worked, and then used a bottle of X400 cleaner. Left it 4 weeks, but didn't seem to work brilliantly well. Flushed and drained thoroughly before replacing with x100 inhibitor.
For the last month, the heating has worked reasonably well - except it has air in it. For the first few days after refilling, I bled all the radiators several times but could hear air in the pipes and pump immediately after bleeding all bleed points.
Today, I checked the header tank. The inside of the lid was covered in condensation, the water is already a bit murky and brown, and there was a pool of creamy foam in the corner, under the expansion pipe. The Grundfos pump is on the slowest setting. The pictures below show the tank (after I had removed the foam - should've taken one before - but you can see some residue in the bottom left corner) and a close-up of the foam.
I had hoped that, with the inhibitor in, I could leave it for the winter, despite the air. But now with the foam too, what do you think I need to do and can it wait until next summer? It's already an old system and boiler which has been corroding for years.
In September I tried the heating and it wouldn't come on. Also, the header tank was full of brown sludge, which I cleared out. Turned out to be a blocked cold feed so cut out some of the pipe to clean it all out and closed it up again. This worked, and then used a bottle of X400 cleaner. Left it 4 weeks, but didn't seem to work brilliantly well. Flushed and drained thoroughly before replacing with x100 inhibitor.
For the last month, the heating has worked reasonably well - except it has air in it. For the first few days after refilling, I bled all the radiators several times but could hear air in the pipes and pump immediately after bleeding all bleed points.
Today, I checked the header tank. The inside of the lid was covered in condensation, the water is already a bit murky and brown, and there was a pool of creamy foam in the corner, under the expansion pipe. The Grundfos pump is on the slowest setting. The pictures below show the tank (after I had removed the foam - should've taken one before - but you can see some residue in the bottom left corner) and a close-up of the foam.
I had hoped that, with the inhibitor in, I could leave it for the winter, despite the air. But now with the foam too, what do you think I need to do and can it wait until next summer? It's already an old system and boiler which has been corroding for years.
