is my combustor working

[dunsee]

I get my fire started and get a good bed of coals, then add seasoned white oak let it burn about 15 - 20 minutes and when stove pipe thermometer reaches about 500 I close bypass damper and the fire appears to die out completly, and pipe temp immediatly falls to about 350 and the smoke coming from chimney gets whiter than when bypass is open.
I have no cat stove experience so not sure if this is normal.

Ps. This is a used stove but I did clean ash off and out of cat best I could

 

[dmmoss51]

Do you have a thermometer for the cat? My cat stove has a probe above the cat that I use to judge

 

[webby3650]

What kind of stove is it? Dutchwest perhaps?

 

[HotCoals]

I take it you can't see the cat looking up into the window?

 

[Todd]

Do your stove top temps go up? It's normal for stack temps to drop when you engage and your fire may seem to go out at first then come back later if your air setting is too low. Your white smoke may be steam or water vapor which is also normal.

 

[Grisu]

It is well possible that your cat needs replacement. You never know how the previous owner treated its stove. However, when you say "seasoned oak", how long has it been split and stacked?

 

[dunsee]

Its an old hearthstone harvest soapstone stove, the cat probe is gone but im getting a new one, and I did not cut the wood myself so not sure how long it has seasoned but it seems to be quite dry, but I have ordered a moisture meter to be sure. I can not see the cat from window, and have not monitored stove top temps because its soapstone

 

[Todd]

The best way to tell if your cat is working if you have no cat probe is to monitors your stove top temps and look for smoke out your chimney. After engaging the cat your stove top temps should climb within an hour up into the 400-600 range. Try placing your thermometer on the top center stone and see what happens.

You may see some smoke at first but after 15 or so minutes after engaging you should only see heat waves or white steam.

Any idea how old the cat is? You have an older Hearthstone and if the cat is original it may be time to replace.