Washing machine - glass door explosion!

dipadidoo

The inner glass on my LG washer/dryer exploded into the drum whilst on the last spin of its cycle! The glass splintered into hundreds of multi-sized shards of glass which shredded my clothes and embedded into fibres. I was washing a small load (a couple of towels and one set of clothing) on a 30 degree normal wash. The machine is only a couple of years old - and I live alone so it's not overloaded at any time or used excessively. There were no zips of metal objects amongst the laundry. The explosion was loud and very scary! Has anyone heard of this before? 

marcia_

So it's 2/3 years old? Where did you buy it?

Aylesbury_Duck

dipadidoo said:

The inner glass on my LG washer/dryer exploded into the drum whilst on the last spin of its cycle! The glass splintered into hundreds of multi-sized shards of glass which shredded my clothes and embedded into fibres. I was washing a small load (a couple of towels and one set of clothing) on a 30 degree normal wash. The machine is only a couple of years old - and I live alone so it's not overloaded at any time or used excessively. There were no zips of metal objects amongst the laundry. The explosion was loud and very scary! Has anyone heard of this before? 

Yes, very occasionally glass can shatter spontaneously and for no apparent reason.  There will either have been an inherent defect or flaw in the glass that has finally failed through impact or heat cycling, or a crack/chip was caused by a previous load that has failed for a similar reason.

daveyjp

Any glass can shatter unexpectedly - car windows, roofs, glass tables, oven doors etc.  Manufacturing flaw, impact, heat, cold, unexpected stress etc.

dipadidoo

I bought it from Currys

MyRealNameToo

dipadidoo said:

 The explosion was loud and very scary! Has anyone heard of this before? 

Not in a washing machine but we had 4-5 medium sized meeting rooms in the middle of the office (basically fishtanks) and one day the north side wall of all of them spontaneously shattered one after the next. Thankfully no one was in them or walking by when they went. 

As we had many others in the building they were all wrapped in sticky plastic incase any others went but none did. They ultimately decided they hadn't been fitted quite right but they'd lasted a few years before they went. 


A google will show its far from a unique incident with plenty of photos of shattered washer doors and some claims of injuries sustained. Seems to cover a wide spread of brands so just "one of those things" most likely. 

pinkshoes

We had this with a shower screen. Literally spontaneously shattered around 4am one morning! 

You will need to take this up with Curry's. The glass will have had an inherent fault that after 2 years of use has now shown itself. 

As it's over 2 years old then Curry's can ask for an independent report showing the fault was inherent and not caused by mis-use. They'd then need to repair, replace or offer a partial refund.

Aylesbury_Duck

I can't see that anyone is going to be able to tell whether the flaw was inherent or created by use.  They can't exactly piece it all together and work backwards.

On the balance of probabilities, unless there's a documented history of that model or production run having the same problem, it's likely to have been caused by a buckle, zip, etc clattering the glass on a previous wash at any point in the last two years.   No harm in trying, of course, but you may find you spend money on an inspection that doesn't give you the verdict you need to get Currys to act.  I'd speak to Currys first, and if they insist on a report, consider getting someone to supply and fit a new door.  Or buy one and fit it yourself.  Modest outlay on a new door may be better than a similar sum on a report that doesn't help you and you'd still need to buy and fit a new door.

dipadidoo

Thanks everyone for their comments and insights. I'm hoping what happened was a 'one-off' and in time I will forget about it - and not feel anxious every time do some laundry. My new door replacement (at a cost of ~£200) will be fitted today and I will pay close attention to the fitting of it. I did not contact Currys (because they take so long to conduct their own enquiries which will probably result in a 'inconclusive verdict' anyway). But, I did contact LG to inform. They offered to conduct their own inspections but I declined for the same reason. 

blcnfr24

Spontaneous glass shattering (had it with drinking glasses, even thick IKEA ones and two glass jug blenders) seems to be when you put something really cold and then really hot in them.  I think it was my fault.

Maybe you were running boil washes and then cold washes.  It was likely nobody's fault in your case really.

LG is a reliable brand with good build quality.
My LG washing machine is coming up to 10 years now and pretty much as good as new.
I always run tub clean with Calgon every 4-6 months and leave the door wide open when done to stop mould.

photome

blcnfr24 said:

Spontaneous glass shattering (had it with drinking glasses, even thick IKEA ones and two glass jug blenders) seems to be when you put something really cold and then really hot in them.  I think it was my fault.

Maybe you were running boil washes and then cold washes.  It was likely nobody's fault in your case really.

LG is a reliable brand with good build quality.
My LG washing machine is coming up to 10 years now and pretty much as good as new.
I always run tub clean with Calgon every 4-6 months and leave the door wide open when done to stop mould.

Thick drinking glasses are more likely to shatter than thinner ones when exposed to hot/cold liquids