Spontaneously exploding glass worktop saver!

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

Obsessive cook
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Quite suddenly as I was wiping it clean! I've had this worktop saver for three years at least. Luckily, its safety glass. I'm now p-i-ssed off because I sometimes used the slightly matt black underside of it for food photographs (see examples below). So I re-ordered it and the one I just received has a white back. Not much use for photos. :(

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TastyReuben said:
Yikes! Any idea why it happened?
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Not really. I searched and found a few references to this happening due to long term stress of changing temperatures on the material. Given that its glass, I don't quite get that. Imagine if windows were prone to exploding spontaneously! I know it can happen with car windscreens but that related to impact.
 
Morning Glory said:
Not really. I searched and found a few references to this happening due to long term stress of changing temperatures on the material. Given that its glass, I don't quite get that. Imagine if windows were prone to exploding spontaneously! I know it can happen with car windscreens but that related to impact.
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I know it can happen with glass baking dishes. People put Pyrex baking dishes under the broiler all the time (even though it's plainly stamped on the bottom that it's not broiler-safe), then take them out and...BOOM!...they explode. Chris Kimball (from America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Country/Milk Street) has mentioned this happening to him before.

It's the rapid temperature change that does it in that case - going from 550F to, say, 70F with no acclimation time, and there's supper, all over the kitchen, along with all that glass. :(

I've never heard of it building up over time like that, though. That's odd. Glad it was safety glass, though, and you weren't cut or anything.
 
Morning Glory said:
Not really. I searched and found a few references to this happening due to long term stress of changing temperatures on the material. Given that its glass, I don't quite get that. Imagine if windows were prone to exploding spontaneously! I know it can happen with car windscreens but that related to impact.
Click to expand...

It's funny that you posted this, a friend of mine showed me a pic of his friends bathroom, one side of the shower glass (whole panel) exploded ........... At 3 am in the morning, imagine the sound and fright you would get. He googled it and said its not rare that it happens. Whole panels exploding. Wtf.
Both my showerdoors are clear plasticy panels.

Russ
 
That looks like tempered glass, not safety glass. Safety glass has a plastic internal layer that holds it together if broken. All those little pieces look like tempered glass, which does explode like that in somewhat rare cases.

Car windshields are safety glass, while the side windows are tempered. Someone broke into my car by breaking a side window, I was finding little pieces of glass in nooks a crannies for months.

I just found this video. Excellent explanation!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EgAUhsiRQs


CD
 
Morning Glory said:
Ah - that explains it.
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I learned the difference from being around race cars, particularly "Spec Racing" cars -- one of my customers builds Spec Porsches. One of the things they have to do is remove the side windows, and replace the rear window with plexiglass, a plastic. The factory windshield/windscreen can remain, because it is laminated safety glass.

CD
 
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