Be careful of who measures your pot!!! WT??

I just paid 59$ for a "40qt" aluminum pot with a really nice steamer basket and lid from Sportsmans Warehouse.
I get it home, rip the label off and decide to mark it on the inside, using my trusty Crafsman screwdriver as an awl, 5, 6, and 6.5 gal lines using my best screwdriver penmenship... and it looks - strangely close to the top???

The pot only holds 8 Gallons!! and I already scratched it up with my markings!
DAAAANG!!

What is this? Is it common practice to FLAT OUT LIE about capacity?
Do the Chinese use a smaller quart than we do? Is this an importer ripoff??

I never thought this would boil 10g batches - obviously but now do I have to worry about boilover with only a 32qt pot?

Next time, I suggest marking up a yardstick calibrated to that pot, rather than the pot itself. You can easily figure out how many inches per gallon by doing a little basic math.

How does that help? I can do math. Thanks.

I emailed the importer using 98% (do the math if you want to) of the above post as my complaint. I'll see if they offer to make things better for me.

I posted this so people check the full capacity before marking the pot so they have a chance to return it. Yes had I used a stick, I could return the pot unharmed, but its too late for me now.

If they make good, I'll post their name and tell everyone to seek out their business. If not - they get blasted.

Take it back anyway.

steakandale said:

How does that help? I can do math. Thanks.

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It helps because then you don't scratch up the pot, thus making it unreturnable and lowering its resale value. And if you happen to have multiple pots with the same diameter, as I do, you can use the same stick on any pot which makes it a convenient tool on brew day when you might be measuring sparge volume in one pot, and boil volume in another.

I'm just feeling a little ripped off, and PO'd. I calmed down.

Can I just make 32Qt work? will it be too close to boiling over for 6.5gals?
Maybe I'll get a nice coupon or something out of this.

I might just try taking it back anyway

So far as using the pot, you should be fine. I recommend you add some fermcap-s at the start of your boil just to be safe, but it's certainly big enough to get the job done for 5 gallon batches.

EDIT: ah for 6.5 gallons (final volume) it's pretty close. I have done 6 gallon f.v. batches in my 30qt pot, so I think you can do it, but in mine it was literally right up to the top of the pot pre-boil. DEFINITELY use fermcap-s.

Screw that make them take it back. You did not receive what you ordered. If they don't offer to take it back let them know you will be calling the better business bureau and the FBI regarding fraud. Then follow through and actually call them. Find out who owns the company and contact them regarding the situation and let them know you are in touch with the BBB and the FBI regarding their fraudulent sale. It does not matter that you marked it up. You weren't aware of their fraudulence until you did so.
I had to do this exact song and dance with Terminix over some bull****. I ended up contacting the guy who owns the parent company that owns terminix. It was a long road, but I got a lot of satisfaction after getting my refund.

edit- sometimes your credit card company will take this on also

And, never trust the dealer to measure your pot.

You could probably make it work, but you can get a 32qt aluminum pot for like $18. So you got ripped off.


Take it back.

GilaMinumBeer said:

And, never trust the dealer to measure your pot.

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Touché.....

ok taking it back.
It REALLY bothers me though I have a conscience.
I took a scouring pad and comet and the marks mostly came out and didn't even make a bright spot. so that puts me much more at ease returning it.
but WHAT FRAUD!!

steakandale said:

ok taking it back.
It REALLY bothers me though I have a conscience.
I took a scouring pad and comet and the marks mostly came out and didn't even make a bright spot. so that puts me much more at ease returning it.
but WHAT FRAUD!!

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Ahhhh. So, this conscience of yours thinks a 8 gallon, 10 gallon pot is a bargain huh? Sounds like to me a chinaman knows more about con-science.

weirdboy said:

It helps because then you don't scratch up the pot, thus making it unreturnable and lowering its resale value. And if you happen to have multiple pots with the same diameter, as I do, you can use the same stick on any pot which makes it a convenient tool on brew day when you might be measuring sparge volume in one pot, and boil volume in another.

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They can't resell it if it is incorrectly labeled anyhow. Take it back.

Maybe they need the calibration marks so they can now measure all their other mislabeled stock. I don't care if you used that thing for target practice. You didn't get what you paid for.

I would be willing to bet that they will return it. They will need to contact their vendor for that item and address the issues presented so that this sort of thing doesn't happen in the future. It isn't the stores fault at this point because they were probably unaware, if in fact it is mislabeld. Just like it isn't a Toyota dealerships fault that Toyota is having the issues they are having.

When you calculated, did you just do the math or physically fill up a gallon jug and mark for each gallon increment?

steakandale said:

The pot only holds 8 Gallons!! and I already scratched it up with my markings!
DAAAANG!!

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Speaking professionally, you are entitled at law, even expected, to rely on their representations made to induce the sale.

If they falsely represented the volume of the pot, then it is on their head that your use of it caused any scoring or markings as you soldiered on in full faith of their false representations.

This is all by way of telling you that this is the retailler's problem not yours.

Call them up and tell them you are sending it back.
Or just contact your credit card company and dispute the bill.
Then call them and send it back.

Get AMEX. They always let you dispute a bill.

They refunded me no problem. I told them the real reason too. They asked the Mgr over and he said yeah refund it immediately. Very cool. They will be talking to the vendor.

I never expected to have to watch out for that. Lesson learned.

i have a digital scale for weighing my pot out so its all good here.....oh wait, THAT kind of pot

Chimone said:

i have a digital scale for weighing my pot out so its all good here.....oh wait, THAT kind of pot

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what does a 10 gallon pot weigh?

steakandale said:

They refunded me no problem. I told them the real reason too. They asked the Mgr over and he said yeah refund it immediately. Very cool. They will be talking to the vendor.

I never expected to have to watch out for that. Lesson learned.

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Damn, this sucks. I guess I'd better memorize the volume of ten gallons and measure pots before I buy.....

Chalk another one up to good old fashioned customer service. Glad it worked out for you Steak

steakandale said:

They refunded me no problem. I told them the real reason too. They asked the Mgr over and he said yeah refund it immediately. Very cool. They will be talking to the vendor.

I never expected to have to watch out for that. Lesson learned.

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You can also get the exact liquid volume by measuring the diameter and height. Most pots have dimensions in their description.
Most formula use the radius so divide the diameter by 2.

http://www.online-calculators.co.uk/volumetric/cylindervolume.php
Then go here:
http://www.metric-conversions.org/volume/cubic-inches-to-us-liquid-gallons.htm
and get the gallons