I have a peerless boiler, not sure on age but assuming it is approx 20 years old. Last winter my heat went out while we were out of town and the house froze up cracking all of our cast iron radioators. They were all replaced with copper fin tube baseboard heating. My question is when I cleaned the boiler to get it ready for this year the the soot in the bottom of the water jacket(in the fins above the combustion chamer) is wet and muddy. The chamber material is wet and soggy and is rust colored. Also over the summer the front of the boiler and jacket are severly rusting. What would cause this and what would you suggest doing?

A friend asked me for help in getting the furnace started for the first time this season. A deceased elderly relative used to do this, he was unfamiliar with it. The thermostat was turned up to 75 (more than warm enough to fire the burners) and the pilot light was lit - nothing happened. It is a 50 + year old unit converted from coal burning. His relative had been using it last season with no problem. I looked for a switch that might turn the themostat on and off for the season. The only possible switch for this I found was in the on position. I found something which was marked in faded letters as the(manual) gas control valve. I pushed up a lever on this and the burner came on for about 30 seconds and then kicked out. I did this several times with the same result. Opening up this unit I could see a gear wheel engage something and turn around a revolution before the burner would conk out. The thermostat setting had no effect and would not trigger the burners on even for a second. Might the problem be the thermostat, the burner control, or maybe both? Is there some trick for starting this thing we may be missing or does it need repair? What are some likely causes for the failure. Thanks for any help.