[tgitchel]

Okay, I got a new thermostat (Stant) and tested it on the stove. It opened and closed at about 190 (rated at 180), and the old one still refused to open at all. I ran through three cycles and new one seemed to work fine. I installed the new one and did a test run the next day. I can definitely see the water swirling much more in the expansion tank around 190 and the temp drops back to about 185 for a short time. I was able to let it run at 2,200 RPM for about 15 minutes this time before it reached 230 and I shut it down.