I have a very old American Standard Steam Boiler Series number 1B-J1

-It is a manual water feed, operated by a turn handle (much like a garden hose)
-It has a Baso switch which detects if the pilot is lit
-It has a McDonell No 69 Low Water Cutoff
-The Gas cut off valve (I think that's what it is) is made by honeywell - no model number is obvious on it.

One morning the thermostat wasn't getting the boiler to kick on (the normal "Spark" when you pass room temp wasn't happening). So I checked to ensure the boiler had water which it did. Next I went to home depot and got a replacement for the thermostat and installed it. The only 2 wires on the thermostat are red and white so it was a fairly easy installation. It turned out the pilot light had gone out at some point (so I may not have needed the new t-stat anyways), so I relit the pilot and pressed the baso switch. At this point the boiler came back on and I thought all was well.

After 1 heating cycle the boiler would not come back on again. I thought perhaps a wire was loose in the t-stat to I double checked there, and everything appears OK. Then I shut off gas/pilot valves waited a few minutes then opened pilot valve, lit pilot, pressed baso switch, opened main gas valve and it kicked on again. But just like last time it stopped afterwards and didn't go back on.

Now even if I repeat the above process the boiler won't turn on. Is there a way I can bypass the thermostat just to see if perhaps the problem is there rather than with the boiler? Can I just touch the red+white wires together? Or is there another way?

I live in Buffalo NY and its pretty cold right now (also have 4 and 5 year old daughters) house temp is 57° and dropping. Thanks in advance for any guidance you may provide.

Jamie

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I just tried bypass the t-stat by twisting the red and white wires and nothing happened so I assume the unit must be dead?

First off, let me say,(as Im sure you already know) that boiler is extremely old, and it may be time to think about upgrading. It looks from the pictures that the baso switch does not control the pilot(probably a valve just to turn pilot gas on and off, which is not up to code and hasn't been for many years because if the pilot blows out it will just keep pumping gas.) It looks like the baso switch only senses the pilot flame though the thermocouple then allows the main gas valve to kick on. In this case, the baso isn't working as a pilot safety, only a main gas valve safety. Sounds like either you have a bad thermocouple, or the baso switch has just gone bad. I would suggest having a pro into look at your system, as it can be very dangerous working with these old systems if you aren't familiar with them. In many cases, if the rest of the boiler is in good condition, they can convert over to a new standing pilot gas valve were the thermocouple will work as a safetly for the pilot. The tech can make his own decission whether he feels okay with just replacing the existing baso or other parts that may have failed. Good luck, and I hope its an easy fix, or that you can fit a new boiler into your budget. Take care. Best wishes.