David C. wrote:
> The upper half of my storm door has exploded...twice.
>
> All I can think of is thermal cycling is weakening the door or it's
> expanding into the frame which may be keeping it from expanding freely
> or something. (The door faces due east and the front door behind it
> is white.) Oddly enough it was pretty cool, in the low 70s and cloudy
> all morning.
Tempered glass resists impacts normal to the surface quite well. On the
edges, not at all well. If the frame contracts around the glass and
there's inadequate cushioning around the edges, that could be a
contributing cause. As well, if the glass is scratched by raising the
bottom panel, the stress concentrations around those could help along
the fractures.
I suspect this is a design flaw that doesn't show up except in cases of
extreme cycling and only after a certain number of cycles.
>
>
> It seems like if this was a common problem I would have heard of it
> before. I'm thinking of replacing it with polycarbonate this time.
Polycarbonate would be a good substitute. Be willing to pay extra for
the anti-yellowing anti-UV and anti-scratch coatings, and accept that
the material has special cleaning requirements and it will give better
service than the factory replacements.
Cheers.
--
Michael Porter
Roswell, NM
Never let anyone drive you crazy when you know it's within walking distance....
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