Spontaneous Breakage

Sudden glass breakage without warning and seemingly for no reason is spontaneous breakage. It happens primarily to tempered glass, and can be caused by a variety of reasons, few of which are predictable or noticeable. Some causes of spontaneous breakage includes defects in the glass during production, particularly if the glass becomes contaminated with nickel sulfide occlusions; minor damage to the glass, especially the edge of the glass (often during installation) that weakens the piece; stress on the glass created when incorrect biding on the frame does not allow room for proper expansion and contraction of the glass and the frame; thermal stress on the glass when the outside glass on an insulating glass unit heats faster than the inside glass; and the wrong size or thickness of glass being used for high wind loads.