I'm in the wooden shed trying to turn the red valve to get to Channeklwood but it will not turn. I get the turn symbol but nothing happens. Am I doing something wrong or missing something?
Is this a glitch or am I the glitch?

I guess that I was the glitch. As soon as I posted, I went back and it worked. Go figure!

Which version of Myst are you using? Normal or Realmyst?
I just checked it on realmyst and it worked fine both with and without the boiler running.
You just have to click the wheel's right side to rotate to the right, clicking the left side won't do anything if it's off. Try it out.