Anyone had a broken window happen randomly?

[Mrwesson]

Just curious I left for the weekend and came back to a rear side window that had shattered but left intact by the tinting.

No signs of impact or anything.

Marina owner says its possible for heat and then rainstorm or similar hot/cold to break them.. Also said we had a bad storm while I was gone.

Just really strange as they are original from 1979..

 

[OldDan1943]

Just curious I left for the weekend and came back to a rear side window that had shattered but left intact by the tinting.

No signs of impact or anything.

Marina owner says its possible for heat and then rainstorm or similar hot/cold to break them.. Also said we had a bad storm while I was gone.

Just really strange as they are original from 1979..

dock side?

 

[Larry M]

A bird maybe? I don’t by the heat hot/cold.

 

[MurrayM]

Someone else’s bowsprit or anchor pulpit?

 

[O C Diver]

I would work under the principal of an impact, maybe by a flying object during the storm. A deck chair striking the window with the bottom of one of its legs could have substantial force without leaving a scratch on the outside of the glass. An unsecured plastic kayak coming off someone's upper boat deck in the storm, could have tremendous force if the end struck the window. Lots of possibilities when the wind starts blowing.

Ted

 

[refugio]

Single or double-thickness glass?

 

[warfdog]

I had a windshield crack spontaneously but it didn't shatter. If yours is tempered glass it probably took a pretty big whack to shatter.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Well, it IS possible for temperature changes to cause shattering of tempered glass but not common.

Way back when, in chemistry labs with glass preparation/transfer systems, "spontaneous" breakage was more prevalent during thunder storms. These systems were built in situ and it was difficult to anneal any areas that had been hot worked. Residual stress was always present and even vibrations caused by thunder could initiate failure.
It could also possibly be that the window had been stressed for 40 years and picked this time to break.

 

[ghost]

Mine are 1980. I had one spontaneously crack just after I got done tapping the weatherstripping back into place with a wooden spoon and a meat tenderizer. Honest.

 

[fgarriso]

ufo ??????????

 

[Datenight]

Had it happen to a rear window on our NorthAmerica pacific 39.

Rob

 

[ben2go]

 

[Trawler Sandpiper]

Saw a dive mask lens that was left in the sun shatter upon contact with water. That was tempered glass.

 

[Mrwesson]

Someone else’s bowsprit or anchor pulpit?

Not possible from the positioning of the boats unless one broke free and was retied.. Unlikely.

Single or double-thickness glass?

Single.

Had it happen to a rear window on our NorthAmerica pacific 39.

Rob

At least that's something.. lol

I'm thinking bird, hail or something flying in the storm.. Gotta be replaced but just wanted to know what happened..

Just going to use lexan and hope it holds up until after this weekend.

 

[Mako]

That happened to me. Southern California. Cool evening and very intense sunrise. 40 year old deckhouse Windows, clear glass. I just had them tinted dark. Boom - boom - boom[emoji95]

Three windows spontaneously cracked.

Hot and cold... that’s what did it. Expensive lesson learned by you and me both.

 

[Maerin]

My center windshield, 3/8" tempered glass shattered one chilly morning in the fall. The heat was on, it warmed the pilothouse up pretty nicely, and while having our morning coffee we heard the crack- like a gunshot. It took a few minutes to discover the source, until I looked out the windshield. The glass stayed intact, but spidered into small bits. I later discovered that the glass was tight in the frame, conditions were just prime that morning to cause the glass to expand in the frame and POW! Costly repair @ $800+, had to have a piece custom cut and sent out for tempering.

 

[FF]

" Costly repair @ $800+, had to have a piece custom cut and sent out for tempering."

If the glass is flat , some folks would just use automotive safety glass.

Only one trip to the glass cutters .

Tinting slows heat from entering the cabin by absorbing the heat , and if inside slowly radiating the heat.

Perhaps the tinting got warm enough to too rapidly expand the glass?

 

[Mrwesson]

" Costly repair @ $800+, had to have a piece custom cut and sent out for tempering."

If the glass is flat , some folks would just use automotive safety glass.

Only one trip to the glass cutters .

Tinting slows heat from entering the cabin by absorbing the heat , and if inside slowly radiating the heat.

Perhaps the tinting got warm enough to too rapidly expand the glass?

Possible but just strange that after all these years of them being tinted it happened now..

I honestly think it was the heat at this point.

I'm going to cut a piece of lexan and remove the glass in the mean time.. The frames on an old Mainship MK1 aren't just going to come out without a fight.

A further clue is this was the one window I had siliconed completely due to a leak in the frame.. That might be enough to keep it from expanding and I don't believe in coincidence.

 

[bayview]

Happened several times on my boat and house.
Tinting and film increase heat. As others said repeated heating and cooling cause repeated stress. Any flaw or scratches or hardening of mounts become the starting point for disintegration into small pieces.
Any glass shop can cut and have it tempered.

 

[kthoennes]

Happened several times on my boat and house.
Tinting and film increase heat. As others said repeated heating and cooling cause repeated stress. Any flaw or scratches or hardening of mounts become the starting point for disintegration into small pieces.
Any glass shop can cut and have it tempered.

Happened to our Carver 3207 one winter, sitting on jackstands in the boatyard. We'd check the boat about once a month just for kicks. Climbed under the cover and into the salon, crunch crunch, shattered glass everywhere. One of the windshields had shattered. I'm thinking it was maybe a temperature thing, still cold in the salon, sunshine on the cover, warm air between the cover and the glass. Big mess, cleaning all the glass bits out of the bilge (floor hatches were left open on purpose over the winter) and the a/c ducts took hours. Glass can be temperamental stuff.

 

[Lepke]

When I had a yard or worked in yards, I probably changed 20 windows that had been dark tinted, were in the sun and cracked in a sudden rain. If someone has tinted windows and a temp gun, it would be interesting to know what the glass temperature runs on a hot, sunny day. Tempered glass only lasts so many heat/cool cycles, but better than un-tempered.

 

[Mako]

Yep and unfortunately for me the shock of the first one cracking fired off two more.

I don’t think this would happen with actual tinted glass (without the film),

 

[88FuHwa]

I am wondering the same. One of the side panels developed a small crack a month ago but has now reached the other side. Does anyone know how much a replacement may cost? Size is roughly 2 x 2 feet.

 

[sdowney717]

Happened to me when sliding the window closed. Exploded into a billion bits of glass. That was an old 1970 piece of glass.
It has 2 holes drilled into the glass which holds a plastic handle, my thinking, the worn rubber bushing allowed the little screw bolt in the handle to crack the glass.

It was like a bullet had hit the window. Very loud ,very confusing and disconcerting as I was inches away.

 

[jdud133]

I also have a 79 Mainship and one of the starboard side windows shattered while we were gone. It was held in place by a sheet of window tint. I have no idea why it happened. We are in Florida and the temperature changes seem to make sense. It happened last year in the late summer.

 

[Todd2]

I am wondering the same. One of the side panels developed a small crack a month ago but has now reached the other side. Does anyone know how much a replacement may cost? Size is roughly 2 x 2 feet.

You must have laminated glass (like a car's windshield). Others, whose glass shatters into a million pieces have tempered glass (like a car's side windows). Yours should last indefinitely and not shatter into a zillion pieces. You just need to decide how much that crack bugs you. Any automotive glass shop can cut you another sheet - get the same laminated style (and tint).

Todd

 

[Tangler]

Has your boat been leaking? A leak over a long period...years...can cause the internal wood framing to rot and shrink or compress due to integrity loss. The pressure of the cabin slowly collapsing can cause windows to break...ive had campers and boats that have done this and trawlers are prone to it. I had 2 arborite panels crack top to bottom. The physical height of the cabin was 1” different from one side of the cabin to the other. Don’t underestimate the damage leaks can cause.

 

[bayview]

Part shade and part sun can cause uneven heating that will increase stress. With tempered glass a slight scratch can be the start point when stress increases.

heck I even had a car windshield crack because I left the defroster on high while I was having breakfast. Outside temp was -33F so there was a lot of uneven heating.