Is your oven door about to explode?
I received a call to clean out a KitchenAid double wall oven where the inner glass panel of the oven door blew out for no apparent reason. Upon arrival, most of the glass was cleaned, but there were still many small pieces of glass embedded in each crack, and the interior of the oven was covered with a fine layer of glass particles and dust. The owners said they had done some remodeling recently, and the contractor turned the oven on a self-clean mode when the glass blew out. My first reaction was that the contractor did something to cause this, but the owner was adamant that this was not the case.
While I have never seen glass break in an oven door before, I have heard of it happening. In my research to see what would cause this, it came to light that this is a more common problem than I thought. But how does this happen? How can glass explode for no apparent reason? Is the glass not tempered and supposed to be stronger than regular glass?
Is it common for the oven door glass to explode for no reason?
I did some research online and couldn’t find an exact number of complaints filed each year. There didn’t seem to be one manufacturer with more complaints about another or if it was more common for inner glass to explode on outer glass or vice versa. While there seems to be no centrally documented place where most complaints are filed, I noticed that there are hundreds of complaints on the web from people with the same testimony of hearing an explosion in their kitchen and finding a million pieces of glass all on your kitchen floor. Some complained that the glass exploded during the self-clean mode, while some complained that the glass exploded when they hadn’t even used the oven in a few days.
In a consumer news roundup from KOMO Channel 4 News in Seattle, they state “Repair experts point out that the number of cases of glass breakage is relatively small compared to the millions of ovens on the market. But, given the pages of federal incident reports, consumers who have dealt with the issue are wondering why there haven’t been any security alerts.”
What is tempered glass?
The glass of your oven door is tempered. Tempered glass by definition according to the National Glass Association (NGA)”A type of shatter resistant safety glass that, if broken, breaks into small granular pieces. Heat-treated glass to withstand higher than normal forces on its surface“Uhh… sure, that explains a lot!? How about tempered glass is made using high temperatures and rapid cooling, making it four to five times stronger than regular glass? When glass breaks, it is designed to “explode” into small pebbles or oval-shaped pieces rather than shards.Tempered glass can withstand high temperatures and heavy loads, but it can also be very brittle, especially around the edges and when subjected to to a blunt force from something with a point.
What causes tempered glass to break?
During the tempering process, the glass is heated to over 720 degrees and rapidly quenched with cold air to change its molecular structure. It is not uncommon for glass to develop small invisible stress fractures during this process. These stress fractures may break during the quenching process or never break at all, there is simply no guarantee what or when will happen.
What are manufacturers doing about it?
The typical universal statement will be “We take consumer safety seriously”; Sure you are, but what are you doing about it? Other than “investigating the matter” and in some cases replacing the glass for free, they are basically doing nothing about it. Why? Because there’s nothing they can do about it; they have no control over the glass manufacturing process nor can they guarantee that the glass will never break.
Consult your owner’s manual care and use guide. The manufacturers have included a statement that essentially states that the glass will be replaced if damaged within the first year of installation, but after that it will be considered customer failure and abuse and all costs to replace the glass will fall on the owner.
How can you prevent the glass from breaking?
You can’t fix what you can’t see, right? While there may be nothing you can do about unforeseen stress fractures in glass, you can help prevent new fractures from being created or help prevent existing fractures from expanding by:
- Do not knock or let the oven door slam shut.
- Make sure the shelves are pushed all the way in before closing the door
- Don’t drop hard or sharp objects on the door when it’s open (I know, stupid comment)
- If the edges of the glass are exposed on the outside of the door, be sure to protect them from pots and pans or hard objects.
- Do not spill cold liquids on the glass when it is hot.
- Don’t Use Its Self-Cleaning Feature (Yes, I Said It!)
*Self-clean mode heats oven between 900 and 1200 degrees (glass tempers to approximately 720 degrees)
No one intends to accidentally drop anything on your oven door or hit it with a sharp object, but know that if you do, you may not cause or see any damage today, but one day your glass may explode for no apparent reason. and can look back and wonderful.
What to do if the glass in your oven door explodes
- Take photos of the damage and the surrounding area.
- Call the manufacturer and file a complaint.
- File a complaint with the Consumer Product Safety Commission
- If your oven warranty has expired, be prepared to pay for the replacement yourself.
- Thoroughly vacuum and deep clean your oven by hand. Do not use the self-clean mode if the glass is missing! There may be pieces of glass between the door and the cabinet frame, glass dust and small particles inside the convection fan shroud or covering the top heating element. You want to make sure no glass debris gets into your food.
conclusion
If you’re in the market for a new oven, I recommend reading reviews online or getting a copy of Consumer Reports and researching what other buyers are saying. Sure, there may be an oven you have your mind set on because it looks cool or has a few bells and whistles, but if there are a lot of complaints, maybe you should look at a different model.
Have you ever experienced the glass in your oven door exploding? If so, please tell me about it and what did he do to replace it?
This article references these sites and reports;
– http://www.komonews.com/news/consumer/Exploding-oven-doors-Isolated-incident-or-greater-safety-concern-179774651.html?tab=video&c=y