Poorly made Erlenmeyer flask - Will it fall off?

[Stouter]

I bought my very first erlenmeyer flask this week from Fleabay, yes I can hear the laughter already, but I don't have many places to buy something like this where I am so I went ahead and took the risk.
What I got was a 2L one, and while I thought the glass thickness would be thin for the price, the real problem is that the base is very uneven, and when you sit it on a flat level surface it rocks noticeably.
I've got a digital stir plate coming and wanted to use this flask on it. Having never used a stir plate I'm worried the flask will have enough movement to fall off.
Is this a problem, or will it be stable enough?
Advice and humorous comments welcome.

 

[peteru]

The flask rocking should not be a problem. You can always put a bit of rubber matting under the elevated bit of the flask to ensure that it's stable.

What might be an issue is the uneven surface inside the flask. It may cause the stirbar to be thrown. You'll know pretty quickly, once you put the stirbar in and spin it. If it rattles and flies off at high speed, you'll need a better flask.

 

[Lionman]

Just order from Brewmart, they do post.

Probably would have been the same price, but you could have topped up the order to save on postage. Few packs of hops or yeasts etc.

 

[Stouter]

Just order from Brewmart, they do post.

Probably would have been the same price, but you could have topped up the order to save on postage. Few packs of hops or yeasts etc.

That's my next step, but I might order for pickup next time someone's travelling that way.
The seller sent a reply to my message offering a paltry $4 refund if I keep it.

 

[TidalPete]

It's a proven fact of life that you get what you pay for.

Simax Erlenmeyers from the Czech Republic are excellent (available from most on-line scientific labs) & having said that I've had no issues with the heavier Chink Erlenmeyers sold by CraftBrewer either.
Don't repeat my mistake of originally getting a 2-litre Erlenmeyer when you will need at least a 3-litre one for both ales & lager starters.
A 5-litre might cost more but is multi-function & should have enough volume for most of the beers you'll do now & in the future.

If I was starting out again I would get 1 x 500ml (graduated in 100ml sections for test tube build-up), 1 x 1-litre & 1 x 5- litre.
My 2 cents & good luck with it.

 

[MartinOC]

The seller sent a reply to my message offering a paltry $4 refund if I keep it.

Yeah, they don't want the hassle of having to pay return postage on an item they can't re-sell.

Tell them "No, I want a proper-quality one sent out" & you'll return the bad one to them (at their cost) & see how quickly they refund your money in full.

 

[Stouter]

It's a proven fact of life that you get what you pay for.

Simax Erlenmeyers from the Czech Republic are excellent (available from most on-line scientific labs) & having said that I've had no issues with the heavier Chink Erlenmeyers sold by CraftBrewer either.
Don't repeat my mistake of originally getting a 2-litre Erlenmeyer when you will need at least a 3-litre one for both ales & lager starters.
A 5-litre might cost more but is multi-function & should have enough volume for most of the beers you'll do now & in the future.

If I was starting out again I would get 1 x 500ml (graduated in 100ml sections for test tube build-up), 1 x 1-litre & 1 x 5- litre.
My 2 cents & good luck with it.

Thanks Pete. I've found one that's a Simax after getting a reply from another supplier and I also have a 500mL yet to arrive on a previous order.

Why the 3L minimum? Everything I've read so far points to 2L's for starters for my 20odd L batches. I thought that would be a good entry point to build on before the yeast bug really bites me and I end up with more experience and need for other sizes. I haven't delved into the world of calculating yeast quantities yet, and still only understand roughly 5% of the 'Yeast' book I've been reading.
I figured, starters now, split some smack packs and store some tubes, then move on to harvesting, then.....

The shoddy flask supplier has now offered a full refund, "never had this problem before, can't send a replacement", blah, blah.

 

[TidalPete]

I've found that a 1.5-litre starter for ales (cold-crashed, drained of used wort as much as possible, then built up further by a further 1.0 litre of brewday wort to make an active starter to pitch to a 22- litre ale batch) works for me with double that if you're doing a lager which equates to a 3-litre Erlenmeyer with minimum head space left.
The 0.5\ 1.0\5.0-litre combo will allow you to build up enough yeast from tubes for either a single or double batch of either ale or lager in rapid time if you get my meaning?
Hope this helps?

 

[Stouter]

Yep. I see what you're getting at with these quantities. Cheers for the advice.