Can a double paned interior window shatter on it's own, with no cause?

Question

Picture it: 4:00a.m. and my daughter and I are asleep in her bedroom. CRASH! The window shatters. My first thought is SOMEONE IS BREAKING IN? After scaring the whole family, calling the sheriff's dept and one hour later, my husband discovered that it was the inside pane that had shattered. The window did NOT have any cracks, etc in it beforehand (I knew from open/closing the window to let fresh air in).. The window is approx. 5-6 yrs old. There was no severe temp. change (75 degree days, and 45 degree nights).. My question is this: What would cause a window to break like this? All answers and ideas are appreciated!!

Answer 1

Can you provide more info. What type of glass is it ?-I presume 'ordinary' annealed glass from your description. Also what type of frame is it. Wood or PVCU (vinyl)?



Its unlikely to be a thermal break as the heat from the room is unlikely to be high enough to have caused this and, it would have happened before now anyway. A thermal break has a specific characteristic in that it starts from a weak point in the edge of the glass (where, for example, there is a chip) . It travels a few millimetres at a 90 degree angle and then branches off (like a tree) at all angles. Thermal stresses are normally found after hot ,sunny spells,and are rare bcause most glass has room to expand.



When you remove the unit check to see how tight it is fitted. There should be space all around (plastic packers are normally used) but if the unit was mismeasured and packed tightly then, or the inner glass is slightly bigger than the outer then, as your other contributor suggests, a flexing of the unit when tight in the frame might be enough to break it.

Answer 2

You didn't say whether or not you had any type of reflective or tinted window film on that window so this is just speculation. Double paned windows maintain a vacuum between the panes and if a tinted or reflective see through film is applied it effectively turns the window into a solar panel generating extremely high temps and along with that, extremely high pressure and expansion. More than enough to blow a window out. If say this was the case and the window made it through the day without breaking, the cool evening air would contract the glass and the stresses involved could certainly break your window. If you have no window film on your window then this answer won't be of much help to you.

Answer 3

Allow me to shed some facts on this discussion even though it is an old thread. I too had have had two windows implode. It seemed as if it was related to the extreme cold weather that we have experienced this winter in Wisconsin. The cold weather might be a factor, but the overwhelming reason for the implosion is that the windows had argon gas in them. Argon gas windows have the nasty little problem of leaking ever so slightly. As the argon leaks out, the negative pressure increases to the point that the glass can no longer withstand the suction and a pane breaks.



I feel bad for the people that were quite certain that it was a ghost or poltergeist or that a kid broke it when nobody was looking.

Answer 4

Window Shatters

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.



RE:

Can a double paned interior window shatter on it's own, with no cause?

Picture it: 4:00a.m. and my daughter and I are asleep in her bedroom. CRASH! The window shatters. My first thought is SOMEONE IS BREAKING IN? After scaring the whole family, calling the sheriff's dept and one hour later, my husband discovered that it was the inside pane that had shattered. The...

Answer 6

Glass is a strange Liquid mixture. Yes liquid. Properties of

glass in a liquid state are flexibility. Now sometimes just plain

thermal stress can shatter a window. A house settling and putting

excess force on the frame can shatter a window. So can a thrown

or propelled rock. It has been known to happen that a car can propel

a rock at better than a 100 MPH. All it takes is an impact against

a glass pane to make susceptible to breakage.

Answer 7

I think it's most likely that something in the room caused it. Maybe your child was messing around and did it by accident but is too ashamed or embarrassed or afraid to admit to it...

Maybe someone left a toy with batteries in it next to a heat register and the battery exploded sending something through the air to crack the window. Look around for something that could have caused it. (It may have landed between the panes or it may have ricocheted somewhere nearby)

Lots of possibilities in regards to things around the house that could create a projectile at random.

Could also be that someone or something cracked it previously in the day and if it was an east or west facing window, it could have cooled enough to stress the crack.



I think the window was too old to have cracked because of defective build.

But I do believe there is always a reason for everything that happens.

Answer 8

This happened today, it was about 35c, outside and a/c going inside, south facing, dbl pane, I heard what sounded like something fall on the tile floor, when I inspected i found nothing, but heard a faint cracking sound, and upon closer inspection realised that the inside pane of the sliding door was shattered or still in the process of , but intact...

Answer 9

Our window just exploded today due to the extreme cold weather. Moisture that built up and froze on the inside of the double panes of glass was to blame. Luckily our window is covered under warranty so we have a replacement already on the way.

Answer 10

mine did in the summer and it just happened tonight from top to bottom new argon double pane vinyl frame this is the second time the first time it was downstairs in the dining room it just made a hole so we got it changed Tonight it was upstairs in my bedroom We have no kids nothing could reach the second floor and my hubby was asleep I went to open the window and heard a crash glass fell off weird

Answer 11

Ours just exploded today in 95 degree heat. Outside only , inside ok. Glass in a zillion pieces but hasn't come out yet and looks pretty intact. It is a curved glass patio enclosure. Six windows but only one broke. Had it replaced a year ago by St. Charles Glass Company because it was very cloudy. Called with a warranty claim but they said breakage is not covered. Seems like a pretty poor warranty to me.

Answer 12

This just happened to us! I know your post is 3 years ago but I'm trying to find more info.

Answer 13

This just happened today as temp reached -20 wind chill at 4AM. The window just imploded.. Thanks for a helpful thread to explain what may have occurred

Answer 14

Poltergeist, get out now while you still can.