U235
Member
With bypass open, my Auber catalyst probe stays below 150 - fully agree that all the exhaust (and any possible wax issues) is completely missing the catalyst.Yeah I know the manual says that. The reality is that wax is not the issue, fire starter logs are generally really bad because they contain other stuff (metals) that can poison the catalyst. Same with the colored ink on newspaper. The pure paraffin wax that is used in super cedars will be 100% combusted and leave no residue by the time the catalyst reaches operating temp.
Then there's another consideration. I don't know how your stove behaves with the bypass open but I'm pretty sure my stove has 0% exhaust passing through the catalyst while bypassed. The secondary air just backfeeds into the firebox and I do not see any temp rise on the catalyst until I shut the bypass. Therefore whatever I'm burning during startup has very little chance of passing through the catalyst anyway so I don't worry about
Maybe the manual meant: Do not burn firestarters … with the bypass closed.
That’s the interpretation I’m going with.