Last night the glass globe of a flush mount ceiling light fixture spontaneously exploded in our house. The fixture is about is about 16 years old and it was on when this occurred. Also, it has sockets for two light bulbs. One of the light bulbs had died the previous day. It was still in the fixture along with the working light bulb. I have found info on light bulbs exploding, but can’t find anything on the actual glass of the fixture itself spontaneously exploding. Does anyone have an explanation for this? Thanks.
The glass globe had internal stress due to uneven cooling during its manufacture. It took 16 years, but either the stress increased until it exploded, or the glass weakened enough due to thermal cycling to cause it to fail.
WAG…Since one bulb had burned out, the globe may have heated up unevenly, enough to exacerbate a manufacturing defect that might not otherwise have been a problem. So it’s your fault for not changing the burned out bulb right away;)
Home Depot has an LED fixture with 25-30 tiny LEDs in a circle, ideal for replacing flush mounted globes that blow up. We just love ours.