Sorry to see this. I can't help, but will note that even if it was a "pressure effect" that messed up one of them, it couldn't have been the same for both of them.

 

Hey everyone,
I’m at a loss here. I have just finished converting my 2020 ford transit to a campervan. When it was finished I decided to store at a nice secure indoor storage unit until I can go full time in it. I went to pick it up for its first outing today, and went inside to grab the keys and came out and to my shock… two windows were totally shattered!
The sliding door window is brand new less than a couple months old and it was professional installed by an auto glass company. The rear right window came with the van a couple years ago.
I know you’re all thinking it was vandalized, however, the windows are blown from the inside out. Looks to be some kind of pressure phenomenon? Please help me understand what happened.
I have put so much time, effort, and money into this conversion and for this to happen right before it’s first outing is totally devastating and frustrating. I’ll be replacing both of those windows and am trying to understand so it can be prevented in the future.
I have read about this happening to tempered glass windows, and even read a couple other forums where a rear window busted. But I must be the most unlucky person in the world for it to randomly happen to two windows.. in addition to the horrible timing.
For the record, it’s stored in Sacramento. It’s July so it’s pretty warm here but it wasn’t an exceptionally hot day by any means and it was barely noon. Sunny though. The van was pulled out of indoor the day before. I could have sworn that when I looked at it the windows were intact and then I went inside and came out with the keys and they were shattered. Appreciate any input you guys have. View attachment 175567
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First off, bummer. Sorry you had to go through this. Been there with a road trip where I got 1.5 hours into it and lost all power steering. Had to limp home and get my EPAS gear replaced. But all has been well since then and the factory wheel shake issue was totally resolved. You'll get to that point too and be back on the road eventually. Just hang in there.

Second, do you have any kind of temperature data from the indoor storage facility during the time it was in there? If it's a metal storage facility with inadequate venting (e.g. small passive vents) then under full sun it could have been so hot inside the van was basically sitting inside an oven. Then you move it outside and the combination of direct sunlight and/or the ambient air temperature differential triggered some kind of stress release process in the glass.

Third, how about your rear lower right and left OEM slider vents that help release pressure so the slider door can close? Did you cover them up completely during the build? If so, then you might have slammed a door, walked away, and didn't realize the pressure caused the already weakened glass (from expanding/contracting in an oven) to create a force sufficient to push/brake the windows out from the inside.

And lastly, any signs whatsoever of an object inside the van or anything on the windows or in the pile of glass on the ground? A trapped animal seems very far-fetched, same with a neighborhood kid pulling some kind of prank, but just looking for additional clues.

If there are no other clues, then I'd say temp-related expansion/contraction combined with pressure from a slammed door caused by the slider door vents being covered during the build.

Cheers.

 

wild that the whole thing shattered, even the edges. That is evidence that it was a material failure, not vandalism.

 

The same thing happened my rear window including the edges and it Was vandalism, It is just the way that kind of glass breaks.

 

Vans are not pressure sealed even after a pretty thorough conversion, so a gradual change in pressure will just even itself out between outside and inside pressures. However, a sudden change in pressure could cause a pressure wave, which might be the origin of stress on the glass. Also, in a tight garage it might be possible to create a pressure wave when a swing garage door is slammed closed. I agree with @ranxerox that vandalism is a possible explanation.

 

Really hard to break that glass without an edge impact or point impact on the field. A smooth faced hammer will usually bounce off.. Throw a broken spark plug ceramic piece at it and it will break nine times out of ten.

 

...Throw a broken spark plug ceramic piece at it and it will break nine times out of ten.

Lol, I've been that frustrated when working on cars over the years.
- but ten times?

 

I've had all kinds of things impact my windows both inside and outside; 2x4's and plywood blown over when leaning against a fence, piano and other props rolling around inside and being stopped by the windows (bad loading on my part), etc etc and I haven't had any shattered windows.

 

All I said or all I tried to say was my breakage pattern was identical to the Ops rear window when a rock was thrown hitting just slightly off center of my drivers side rear window, You could see where the rock hit and everything cracked outward from there all of the way to the edges of the glass. 2016 Transit cargo van with original glass.

3M 5 percent limo tint film on the inside of the glass held all of it together until I had time to get it fixed three days later.

 

I've had a similar thing happen to me. Google "spontaneous tempered glass break" and you'll find some common causes. It does seem like really bad luck that it could happen to two panes at the same time.

 

No! Can't happen!

 

Short fuse.

 

We have the same van and twice this summer two separate windows have shattered. It was sitting in the driveway when it happened. We are guessing heat pressure.