My oven’s glass door shattered while I was eating dinner. It exploded about 5 minutes after it was turned off. I almost had a heart attack. This oven is only 2-3 years old. Why did this happen, and how can I prevent it? I could barely afford this one; I cannot buy a new oven. What do I do? 😭 See in comment👇
Willie Mae Truesdale was startled by a sudden boom emanating from her kitchen. Rushing to investigate, she discovered her oven’s glass door shattered into countless shards scattered across the floor. “It was truly startling, you had to witness it to comprehend,” she recounted.
“I mean, it was unbelievable. Glass everywhere, as if it had just exploded.” Adding to the bewilderment, her oven hadn’t been in use at the time. What’s more alarming is that Truesdale isn’t alone; other homeowners have experienced similar oven explosions.
Cheryl, a suburban mother, encountered a similar surprise during the COVID-19 quarantine. Attempting to bake brownies, she found them undercooked in the center. Despite her oven being just three months old, she realized its temperature was off by approximately 25 degrees. Post-quarantine, she arranged for a professional to address the issue. Beforehand, she opted to run a self-cleaning cycle. As it neared completion, a deafening explosion resounded, resulting in the inner glass of the door shattering into the oven.
Michelle Wheat faced a comparable ordeal when her oven door exploded, leaving shattered glass strewn across her kitchen. Like Truesdale, Wheat’s three-year-old oven was inactive at the time. Fortunately, none of her four young children sustained injuries from the shattered glass. While Truesdale’s oven was from Frigidaire and Cheryl’s from Bosch, numerous brands have encountered reports of glass door explosions. Notably, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has received around 450 such reports since 2019.
Regrettably, all three women encountered challenges with the manufacturers following the incidents. While Truesdale’s oven was still under warranty, Frigidaire’s technician attributed the explosion to the family, despite the oven being off. Consequently, she had to personally cover the cost of a new door. Fortunately, Bosch replaced Cheryl’s oven after NBC intervened. Meanwhile, Wheat’s warranty had expired, requiring her to pay the technician $100, only to be informed that the glass needed replacement, amounting to an additional $314. Frigidaire recommended Wheat purchase an extended warranty, a suggestion that left the frustrated mother of six incredulous. “This should not have occurred,” she asserted, emphasizing her point to the manufacturer.
What Causes Oven Doors to Shatter? Mark Meshulam of Chicago Window Expert delineates two scenarios for spontaneous oven glass breakage. One involves soda lime glass, rapidly heated and cooled for tempering, prevalent in oven doors. The other type is borosilicate glass, known for its heat resilience. The transition to soda lime glass has correlated with increased breakage due to its lower tolerance for thermal cycles.
Moreover, nickel sulfide inclusions, minuscule flaws within the glass, likely contribute to such explosions. Meshulam explains that these inclusions, typically about a tenth of a millimeter in diameter, exert peculiar properties and can lead to spontaneous failure, particularly under high heat conditions like oven cleaning cycles.
Nevertheless, Meshulam assures that the self-cleaning feature of ovens is generally safe. He attributes explosions to microscopic chips and flaws, potentially occurring during production, shipping, or installation. While these factors are beyond homeowners’ control, they can mitigate damage by avoiding aggressive cleaning techniques and minimizing physical impact on the glass.
