The heat will stop upstairs if I turn the knob at the bottom of the
cast iron radiater towards "CLOSE". However, this seems to stop
heating the entire upstairs. In addition, when I slightly "OPEN" this
knob, the heat seems to get uncontrollably warm again, to approximately
80 degrees.

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

I have an older boiler and both downstairs and upstairs thermostats are
set to 60. However, the thermostat reads just a tick under 80. The
pipes/radiators feel very warm. Is there anything I can do to correct
this, short of turning off the boiler? I would like to get this
working properly myself, but do I need to call a professional?

Could be a few things. Thermostat, stuck relay, stuck contacts.

You can eliminate the thermostats by simply disconnecting them. Just remove
one wire. The thermostat operates a relay that pulls in the 120 volts to
get the heater running. If the contacts stick, that will do it also. I'd
want to be assured they are working properly if you do release them from
sticking. You don't want to leave the house for the day and have it stick
again. Sometimes you need a pro.