# Shattered glass sink cover - how did that happen!



## caseyjones (Jul 13, 2007)

Hi, our motorhome has been parked on the drive as usual since we used it last a couple of weeks ago. When I went in this morning, I saw the glass cover which covers the sink and drainer has shattered, with glass everywhere. The van hasn't moved, nothing has fallen out of any cupboards onto the cover and there's nothing in the sink which might have done this. Any ideas why this might have happened? The only think I could think of is that it has been very windy - perhaps air pressure might have done it? The glass cover over the hob, just next to the sink is still fine, so very weird!


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## SaddleTramp (Feb 15, 2007)

Is it possible it was left in the Open position and with the wind it has dropped closed?.

Do not think wind pressure would shatter it.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

It's been very hot recently. Is your van parked in the sun ? Temperatures do get remarkably hot inside a closed van - though I would not have thought hot enough to do this.

There have been previous posts about this kind of glass shattering apparently without any provocation.

G

Edit to add link;

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-90416-glass.html+shattering


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

That's my theory too Grizz.

It must have been under a lot of stress already, and almost "ready to go".

If there is any corrosion of the clamps holding the glass, that would further add to the probability.

Glass is funny stuff. Technically a supercooled liquid, and its properties are hard to believe at times.

I once watched a chap who had locked his keys in the car trying to break the driver's door window. (No comment about his mental state!!! :roll: )

He belted it as hard as he could with a big lump of wood . . . and I really do mean hard! 8O All that happened was the wood bounced off.

Then his wife arrived with a bit more sense than him, and tapped the corner of the glass with the (almost) stiletto, steel tipped heel of her shoe - and it shattered.

Bricks bouncing off jewellers' windows and felling robbers is not necessarily a myth!!

Dave


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## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

Zebedee said:


> Glass is funny stuff. Technically a supercooled liquid, and its properties are hard to believe at times.


Urban (and oft repeated) myth.

from Wiki

Glass is an amorphous solid. It exhibits an atomic structure close to that observed in the supercooled liquid phase but displays all the mechanical properties of a solid.[31][32] The notion that glass flows to an appreciable extent over extended periods of time is not supported by empirical research or theoretical analysis (see viscosity of amorphous materials).

Some people consider glass to be a liquid due to its lack of a first-order phase transition[31][33] where certain thermodynamic variables such as volume, entropy and enthalpy are discontinuous through the glass transition range. However, the glass transition may be described as analogous to a second-order phase transition where the intensive thermodynamic variables such as the thermal expansivity and heat capacity are discontinuous.[34] Despite this, the equilibrium theory of phase transformations does not entirely hold for glass, and hence the glass transition cannot be classed as one of the classical equilibrium phase transformations in solids.[28][35]

Although the atomic structure of glass shares characteristics of the structure in a supercooled liquid, glass tends to behave as a solid below its glass transition temperature.[36] A supercooled liquid behaves as a liquid, but it is below the freezing point of the material, and in some cases will crystallize almost instantly if a crystal is added as a core. The change in heat capacity at a glass transition and a melting transition of comparable materials are typically of the same order of magnitude, indicating that the change in active degrees of freedom is comparable as well. Both in a glass and in a crystal it is mostly only the vibrational degrees of freedom that remain active, whereas rotational and translational motion is arrested. This helps to explain why both crystalline and non-crystalline solids exhibit rigidity on most experimental time scales.


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## HarleyDave (Jul 1, 2007)

Er - Yes Frank
I (probably) agree...

Anyway - out sink lid also shattered for no apparent reason while we were away in the van last week in Normandy

In the evening, we were watching the Gavin & Stacey box set and suddenly the lid shattered and continued to crackle and rustle as the stresses released.

Fortunately most of the glass was caught in the basin and I was able to undo the 2x retaining fasteners on the hinges to dispose of all the bits.

Now I have to find a replacement - any suggestions?

Cheers

Dave


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

Do not watch Gavin and Stacey.... if all other logic goes out of the window, consider the imponderables.
Alan


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## Malc (May 9, 2005)

Glass cooker top spares.......
www.leisurespares.co.uk/

Malc


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

Any crop circles close to your house?


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## The-Cookies (Nov 28, 2010)

damn ours went today , thought van had been broken into couldn't work out why glass was every where, think sun light had shone through roof light because hinge was red hot,


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## HarleyDave (Jul 1, 2007)

I ordered a replacement glass cover (and a chopping board - like you do :wink from CAK

Good price and Excellent service - I am "well chuffed"

Cheers

Dave


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I keep all blinds closed when parked up on the principal that sunlight is not good for furnishings and fittings

especially for glass sink covers it seems
maybe also cooker covers

Aldra


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

Funny stuff that sunlight.

Our next door neighbour nearly had his house burnt down..

As was prevalent in the 70/80's a lot of folk were putting "Bulls eyes" into their Georgian style windows, this particular bulls eye focused the suns rays onto his settee and set fire to it.. :roll:


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## tessajoe (Sep 23, 2008)

the glass over our sink shattered today,its parked on my drive,no sunlight,no heating was on,nothing had fell out of any cupboards,just glass everywhere.reading previous posts its not a one off.


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## H1-GBV (Feb 28, 2006)

My glass sink top shattered several years ago because No2 son drove over a tree root with the cupboard open and a heavy cup fell out. "Not my fault" he yelled "you should have closed the door".

Replacement glass was £80 or a complete hob, with top, for £120.

Gordon


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## tessajoe (Sep 23, 2008)

can you remember where you got your replacement from,


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## vicdicdoc (May 14, 2005)

Sun heating the metal hinges & stressing the glass seems the obvious cause to me


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## GMLS (Dec 2, 2010)

It could be due to nickel sulfide inclusions

https://failures.wikispaces.com/Glass+Breakage+-+Nickel+Sulfide+Inclusions

I work in construction and this does happen fairly often with things like glazed partitioning, glass balustrades and shower screens


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## H1-GBV (Feb 28, 2006)

tessajoe said:


> can you remember where you got your replacement from,


I think it was leisurespares (as on P1) but the website didn't look familiar (things do change with time!). It looks like you have to email a request for a quote: I think I had to do that and someone rang me. That was when we discussed the possibility of buying the whole thing.

I also wanted some of those little ring-type feet and he threw them in for free as a deal-maker: when they arrived they were white rather than black and SWMBO refused to use them.

Good luck - Gordon


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## vicdicdoc (May 14, 2005)

rayrecrok said:


> Hi.
> 
> Funny stuff that sunlight.
> 
> ...


Yep, I remember attending a fire caused by a round goldfish bowl in the window focusing the sun's rays on the carpet.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

I flogged the old sink out of our van on Ebay last month, the buyer had had the same problem and due to age couldn't get a new glass top, so bought ours for £60, I expected about £10, I also have a Hob glass on Ebay at the mo, but no interest in that yet.


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## alexblack13 (Feb 10, 2013)

One of the two securing clamps could be to blame.

I broke two side windows from my little lotus elan trying to tighten the cable clamp screws securing the glass to the winding ropes (electric windows)

Bang ... no glass. Try again. Bang no glass... ;-) 

Very very easy to break when the right 'method' is used. That's why tea leafs use an auto center punch. Can I say that?

Hoping to help

Alex B ....


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