Why tempered glass randomly explodes 

Just happened to me tonight. It literally was an explosion, but the cleanup wasn't too bad after all.

I've been near tempered glass spontaneously shattering three times, once from glass plate, and twice from small glass bowels. The last time was about a dozen years ago, the bowel was about 4" square, and it was inside the cabinet when it came apart, the explosion knocked the door of the cabinet open about 3 inches, and dropped little squares of glass onto the counter top, and then the closer on the door closed the cabinet door.

I work at a double glazing factory where we toughen our own glass. Typically we see more glass shatter during winter due to the cold air in the factory, however we've also had double glazing units just "pop" so to speak when they're ready to be shipped off. I've had several pieces break over my head and I'm glad it's always been toughened rather than float glass. Regardless I still see my life flash before my eyes every time lmao

I was driving on the freeway this afternoon and my driver side front window exploded. Scared the absolute shit out of me! This makes much more sense now

So _how do they shatter????_ You had _one_ question to answer and you spent over 4 minutes not answering it!

Nothing in this video explains why this happens. I've seen someone smashing the glass with a hammer. That'll do it. But not a single instance of the glass exploding spontaneously. Poor reporting. Very little science. No conclusion.

I had this happen to me back in the 1980s when I was vacuuming my parents living room, and all I did was touch the glass door on my parents old entertainment center. It was something I will never forget because I didn't even push anything yet but it went pop suddenly thousands of pieces went everywhere. It's a weird situation.

Reason why I'm here: It happened to me. I have a large sheet of glass on top of my snake's tank because it has a screen top and doesn't hold the humidity. So I lifted the sheet up to move it so I could get him out to feed him, all I did was lift it. Suddenly there was a loud boom and the glass went everywhere! My mom thought I dropped something and heard it from the other room it was so loud. It literally went all over my room! My closet door was closed and it got in there, got all the way across the room, just everywhere! And some of the pieces were popping and jumping! It wasn't hot and it wasn't freezing, it was a bit more on the cold side, but not anything that should have warranted an extreme explosion. I've got work in an hour and my mom and I spent like two hours cleaning it all up.

Huh RU-vid, I guess you really are paying attention to what I watch. This explains what happened with Matthias. I never thought it was a ghost but was curious on how this works.

This happened to my living room table today

A glass sitting on my counter literally exploded and cut my arm. I couldn’t believe it and didn’t understand what just happened. Shards and pieces were everywhere. Thank goodness it didn’t get in my eye. It scared the hell out of me

I just watched the Matthias video and got recommended this-

I've had two completely different drinking glasses explode on me. The first one was in my hand when it happened. It contained orange juice and club soda from the fridge. I wasn't squeezing it or doing anything out of the ordinary. I had drank about half the glass and had just taken a sip when it shattered and pointy shards went everywhere, yet I remained unharmed. The second time it happened, I was sitting in my living room when I heard a loud pop and the sound of glass shattering from the kitchen. When I went to look, I found the empty drinking glass I had placed in my empty sink in a million sharp little pieces. In both cases, the only pieces left that were bigger than a quarter were the thickened bottoms of the glasses.

My glass chopping board randomly exploded today...then it continued to make a crackling sound and a couple pieces flew up. Scared the hell out of me...smh this video explained nothing

1:44 To prevent your tempered glass from shattering all over the place maybe a good idea to install peel and stick clear vinyl over it. If it shatters it should stay in place

Back then, when I was five or six years old, I was taking a shower, when all of a sudden the window broke. The whole window came down and fell onto me and injured me badly. And to make it even worse, it also happened a second time months later. Well, I guess I just had REALLY bad luck!

This just happened to my shower door.

On June 6/2018, I woke to discover the outside panel of my slider glass patio door shattered. The outside screen was closed and locked. That screen door is tight and is intact. The inside pane of the door is also intact and not damaged. Due to the fact that both the outside screen and the inside panel are intact, the only conclusion I can come to is that there must have been a manufacturing defect. Glad that You Tube could attest to, although it is a rare occurrence, it does happen! Thanks again You Tube!

Someone should send this to Matthias

I'm sitting here at 2 in the morning on August 2 2019 and my tempered glass desk just exploded. My monitor is broken, my printer fell and my paperwork is covered in glass. It got into my bed and sheets. It was loud it woke my neighbor up. Jesus that woke me up.

This happened to me at 5am this morning it was the loudest thing ever

Matthias tryna fund this like 😳

Here because that just happened with a salad bowl as I set it down in the sink. It literally exploded‼️ I’ve had this bowl for years - big enough to mix a salad in, small enough for single portion. Shocked me into a whole ‘other’ feeling reality. Tanx for the info, and to RU-vid for platforming this important piece of info.👋☺️

lol didnt expect to see someone makin a bong in this video but eh good suprise

My glass tv stand just exploded. My tv stand has 3 layer of glass bottom middle and top. The top one exploded and my tv fell over. It happened after I turned my tv on about 5 mins later it exploded scared the shit outta me. It exploded and I had 6 cuts on my feet one is pretty deep just feel real lucky glass didn’t fly in my eyes

"Combust"? Lol, try harder.

I worked in a restaurant where tbe glasses would sometimes shatter from just touching them.

Our High-End Glass Shower Door did that too, just past summer (2020). If there is a small crack or chip somewhere, it will crack on its own if the temperature fluctuate. *NOTE:* After cracking big pieces... The smaller pieces will continue to break like there is energy in them. It went on for about 30 minutes afterward.

It happened to one of my window today with a loud noise. It was scary!!!

Happened to my PC's side-panel, I've opened it dozens of times to swap in things and it just finally decided to explode one day when I was putting in a new video card. Was under warranty luckily but... Felt like a dingus when I looked down and my feet were covered in glass.

It's very rare, which is why it happened to me twice.

Mine just combusted today, lived at the place for 10+ years, just in the range the video said.

The tempered glass sliding door window on my mom's old dodge grand caravan cracked while on a road trip. Was incredibly loud, but held together. I thought the person next to us shot at us.

The painted middle fingers on the car window in the background @ 2:27

My very expensive glass coffee table I bought from Nordstrom imploded in the middle of the night...it woke up like heavy thunder.

Imagine taking a shower with a tempered glass door and it just explodes on you.

3:35 lol anybody notice middle fingers spray painted

It's just happened to me, my glass cup just exploded out of nowhere, I was trying to sleep so you can imagine what hassle it was, I'm glad it happened at a safe distance.

Happened last night, I'm in Australia. Sounds like a fucking shotgun blast

I had a toaster oven where the glass shattered after a few months of using the oven. I found out later the manufacturer was recalling that model of oven over failing glass.

My dad has a display case in my basement that has old Detroit Tigers old stadium stuff. And one time I went down there and glass was every where.

I bet people just fart and it breaks due to the pressure change in the room

Our rear window on 2017 Ford Transit campervan spontaneously exploded yesterday while I was laying down (it about gave me a heart attack). Luckily we have custom magnetic window blinds because my face was about a foot from the window. Ford has been incredibly irresponsible about covering the replacement of the defective window, even though we provided pictures and a video shortly after it exploded with the sound of the glass continuing to crack.

When 2 sheets of tempered glass are nearly touching the positive and negative ions or particles can interact in a bad way by causing one to shatter. My Dad had a TV shop yrs ago and back when tvs were huge and heavy, companies would put a thick slab of tempered glass in the box to help protect the picture tube (still makes no sense to me). Anyway we'd have many of these and would use 2 or 3 on our coffee table, side by side. A fellow TV shop owner told my Dad how one of his coffee table glass covers shattered and they discussed why it happens. I was a kid and had to try it myself. Sure enough it shatters 1 of the 2 pieces. It has to be done very slowly and be nearly touching. It's not easy to do it right, but it can be done.

i think this mightve been what happened bc today in my one class the glass tabletop just like exploded it was so scary

So how and why exactly it randomly shatters?

Anyone else getting this recommended to them after Matthias’ video? 🤣

I had a tempered glass desktop and it just broke yesterday with a loud bang and glass shards everywhere

Was washing one of those expensive ceramic frying pans back in 2010 and the thing cracked into 2 pieces in the sink while I was washing it. Was always extremely careful handling it. Called the manufacturer and the guy told me what happened was impossible. Bunch of nonsense, things break, no matter what. Pan had a lifetime warranty so they sent a new one.

My car moonroof shattered yesterday while I was at work. No projectile damage... just a shattered piece of glass sitting above my head while I drive. Saturday is apparently now, pick a part day.

so pissed my rear windshield is fuckin shattered

Employee who broke it: "I swear it just randomly exploded"

Hoping to find an answer, I was driving yesterday and heard this glass breakings sound, thought I hit something but sure the road was clear..next day, drove at 4am and my right sideview mirror wasn't working and when I checked it, glass was shattered not a big portion though but sure it was loud!

I had a empty glass French Press sitting undisturbed on the kitchen counter explode. The shards travelled long distance and when cleaning up the center of the damaged decanter was pulverized almost powder like glass. I was freaked. Thank God no one was near. I thought I had a poltergeist in the house.

The glass has an imperfection somewhere in its manufacture. It’s happened to us with a glass door.

Few days back my uncle was eating and the plate broke into pieces , today my pottery vase broke too ! It's weird because no body was in the sitting room , plus it didn't fall or anything it just broke spontaneously

This happened to me with a very well known cookware set! The hot lid for my quart pan shattered and pieces explodes into the next room! I couldnt believe it!!!! Very glad it shattered into small pieces‼️

My computer case has a tempered glass side panel that randomly shattered one night. Scared the living hell out of me and made an unholy mess. I'm a little timid about putting the replacement in once it's shipped to me!

I had this happen to me with a customer car. I was sitting there about 30 feet away eating lunch, and the side window just randomly popped like you had hit it with a hammer! Either way, it was in my possession and I had to eat the cost of a new window

A glass of cup broke in my kitchen by itself

My brothers tempered glass desk just suddenly exploded on him, pretty horrendous, this is why you should use wood or other more solid material. Glass should be reserved for windows, even plastic is better in most cases if you want it in bathrooms or even a PC case, easier to clean too.

Anyones with a car window exploded outwards

Was sitting there doing nothing, and my glass cup (thick glass cup) cracked on the inside. Loud AF and you can't even feel the crack because it's cracked on the inside.

I am terrified at broken glass since I was a baby, I got a cut from the glass, and it really hurt. I hear glass were thin back than they can easily break.

This happened with me...I was absolutely surprised...I kept looking for clues of how the glass just randomly exploded.

Can it happen to a washing machine? (more specifically a front loading one with a window in the front)

the glass breaks because of immense temperature differences, when the tempered glass is poorly made it can break because the inside expanse because of heat while the rest of the glass stays the same volume.

Been Tempering Glass for 20 Years. Tempered glass is done the same way Metal is tempered. The difference is the molecular reaction to the process. When glass is tempered the edges and corners expand and contract weakens it on this points. If the glass shatters like that it means, the piece had excess of weak points. Usually created on the cutting and edging process. We supply 87% of glass used on building and housing. All this process is tented in our Research And Development Laboratory.

Hi, I just had this experience early this morning. I heard a bomb early this morning, my IKEA table exploded on its own, scaring me. I live alone in my house and never did anything special with it. I went to IKEA and they treated me like a liar. What can I do in this case? I am In France. Please help.

should have that sturdy windshield on our pcs

Have had the same window do this twice. I think it's because outside is the dryer vent.

Use to work doing temper glass for 3 years the reason is that who ever put that glass in the oven didnt have the right temperature so the glass doesn't temp right and quality didnt do right inspection and let the glass go.

My bathroom scale just exploded. It was a little weird til I saw this..

Today our car window broke randomly while in a funeral, such strange

Also when it exploded, a shard hit my eye and my eye was blurry for a couple hours

My crockpot lid was shattered this morning when I woke up to check on my duck. It was ok in the middle of the night. I had this crockpot for about 2 years and took excellent care of it. I have always cooked larger birds over night especially for the broth. My neighbor's glass broke in his oven about a year ago. So yes, something needs to be done about this.

What would we do if we are doing demolition day? (Remodeling house)

It happened to me a few yrs ago. The top shelf on my entertainment center (about 5' off the ground) loudly exploded for no reason. It scared the ____ outta me! I looked at the ceiling and thought something had fallen thru and couldn't believe there was no hole, then I looked down and saw the mess - I was still picking up pieces of glass several months later - it was everywhere!

glass explodes because: it was manufactured cheaply and the surface tension is bigger than the inner material tension.

Yep the tempered glass top shelf of my tv stand just randomly exploded today for no visible reason after owning for 4 years. Luckily the tv fell backwards against the wall without damaging it. The only other thing damaged were my feelings.

This happened after moving my tabletop from my cold trunk to my heated room. Was hell to clean up lol

This happened to me earlier this week. It sounded like a bomb explosion when my 5ft diameter kitchen table glass top exploded

I remember a Pyrex dish making a high pitched noise and suddenly exploded. I had pieces of glass in the kitchen, dining room, and my office. I put my arm up right before the explosion. I had to pull tiny fragments out of my arm with tweezers.

Yup, i've had tempered oven doors explode, it's odd lol

i just bought a glass desk it was used so now i hope its at least 20 years ole so it doesnt just shatter

This literally just happened to us last night. We heard what we thought was an explosion or firework from outside. Come to find out this morning, it was one of the glass shelves from inside our fridge. I spent the entire morning throwing away perfectly good food and cleaning large and miniscule glass shards out of everywhere. : (

Haha I work at a glass cutting and tempering plant this happens alot at least 3 to 4 pieces a day

They forgot to tell you that the outside layers are heated but not all the way through! If a rock comes up and chips the surface and happens to chip it 1/2 way through, when the center is exposed to air, that is what causes it to break in a million pieces! The other thing they forgot to tell you is the exposed edge is the most vulnerable! If you slide a frame-less shower door too hard and it smacks the center bumper causing it to lift off the top track and the bottom edge hits the metal sides, that door will break!! Also the problem with the heavier tempered glass like 3/8 or 1/2 inch is when they break, they do the same thing, (crack into many small pieces) but because of the thickness and weight, the pieces stay together in bigger chunks ( 4 to 6 inch chunks ) and when they fall 3 to 5 feet, they can do a lot more damage to your body then just little minor cuts and abrasions! A side note, don't use your towel bars as handicapped bars to lift your self or support your weight cause the holes in the glass make it weaker their too! My recommendation is to have a framed shower! It still looks nice and you're only dealing with 1inch of metal that covers the sides. Never have I heard or seen a framed unit with no holes blow up spontaneously! It's always the frame - less ones!

My mom had a 1" thick round glass table that exploded - she was around 15' away and still received cuts on one of her legs. If she was sitting at the table, it would have resulted in major injury or could have killed her.

I bought a nzxt case that had tampered glass and I was opening the case and placed the panel on its side and when I replaced the side panel back on it just randomly shattered

I just had a tempered Duralex glass shatter into thousands of tiny fragments. I was wiping a counter and the glass may have been gently nudged into another item on the countertop. It exploded in my face and tiny shards flew into my face. I was ok but in the clean up process I had to finally use packaging tape to clean up all the tiny sharp fragments and glass dust!

Something in the manufacturing process messing with thermal expansion?

Well this just happened in my bathroom, it sounded like an explosion and glass was scattered more than three meters from the shower. I would hate to be in the shower when something like this occurs.

Yesterday, My stove with tempered glass explode but luckly my kitchen is ok

My Basco sliding shower door shattered in to a million little pieces..just a small cut trying to get the door on roller tracks..about 4 years old.

I had a piece explode on it's own in the closet where I saved glass in the workshop. I wondered what caused that.

The fact that the first glass manufacturer guy said "it breaks...but ultimately it's not gonna harm anybody" HOW?? IT'S RANDOMLY BROKEN GLASS DUDE.

"for the glass to combust" - i never realized glass was combustible.

I had a revell Crock-Pot lid it's blowed at 3:15 a.m. we were sound asleep in, I'm not cooking in crock pot. It's a brand new crock pot, I purchased it a year ago at Walmart. I use the four times and put it in my storage, I decided to make a pot roast so I got it out of storage. I brought it home washed it, dried it and set it on my kitchen. I was going to start my roasted 8 a.m. in the morning..... Out of nowheres the lid blew up. Now I've got tempered glass all over my countertop. It's now 5 am in morning, I'm still cleaning glass up. What the crap ?

This just happened to me rn... explosion is scary af