P Channel versus Floor Channel (it can't be discussed enough)

Hi everyone, I am shortly going to be building another 8" batch rocket in a strawbale house. I have not done a floor channel, only P channels in the batches I've built.

I understand that the floor channel is much easier to replace later on, but after I watched Matt Walker's video on his floor channel design and he said that he was needing to replace his vertical piece every year--???-- it made me wonder if the longevity of the p channel is worth it.

My P channel on my batch rocket has gone through three years without any serious degradation. Why are Matt's floor channels wearing down so quickly? And what are your experiences? Is it from smacking that vertical piece with wood? Is it that much hotter at that section of the port?

Thanks for your knowledge!

Hey Daniel;
A floor channel is way easy to install.  Much easier than the P channel.
If you copy my quick change design then changing out stubs can be done in just a few minutes.
Directly in front of the port is an extremely hot area.
My 7" batch was spalling stubs in about 12-16 weeks. These were plain carbon steel stubs. Less than $10 each.
You can purchase a one-time stub of RA330 ($85) and it should last indefinitely.
Or I am about to start offering a silver option stub with slightly less heat tolerance, RA253 MA @ $60

Try the floor channel I think you will like it

Hi Daniel,
My experience has only been with the use of a few variants of a floor channel.
Just through good old fashioned observation and experience, I found the vertical stub to be very helpful in keeping the port from getting plugged with wood and ash - That which was being loaded as well as that which was burnt and rolled around as coals.
Since I made mine from soft steel (mostly bed frames or pipe), the lifespan of the stub was shortened to about a seasons use. This was also probably due to the fact that it's right in front of hells doorway (the port) with flames wrapping around it continously while burning.
Matt has also mentioned that this is a good thing since it allows this secondary air to be super heated in preparation for entering the heat riser and not cooling the combustion.
Hope this helps a wee bit in deciding which way your going to roll.

Thanks everyone, great information.

Thomas, I'll send you an email with a product request. The ra330 looks grand.

I'm planning on tearing down my batch next spring and replacing the P-channel with a floor channel.