Shower Door Exploded!

[Rob P]

Had this issue about a month into a new 2019 North Point, among other problems. I can only say, you will be finding glass far months to come. We had no issues with getting it replaced other than it took a month, there were several issues to repair though. Hope you get it solved quickly!

Rob

[Retired mountain folk]

When I searched the internet to find out how to get the rollers back on our tri-tier shower door, there was a lot about shower doors exploding, so your not alone. I’d print out some info about it happening to other people, as Jayco my not want to warranty it. Have proof before requesting it. Good luck!

[Jack N Janet]

This happens quite often. It is usually user error that causes the explosion of the glass.
Considering your 2018 30.5 MLOK is 8 months old Jayco is really doing you a favor by replacing the glass. This is an example of Jayco's customer service. I speak from 52 years experience in the auto/rv insurance industry. Make sure you say thank you to the dealer and Jayco for what they are doing for you.

[Mzellers5]

Had a similar experience in my home. A 3/8" thick frameless shower door, sorta high dollar stuff, exploded like a shotgun blast. Nobody had been near it for 24 hours. Just two senior citizens live here. I bought it because of its outstanding design and construction. Nylon bushings in the holes where the rollers attach. Smooth, one-finger operation.

But the damage was dramatic. Glass thrown 15 feet away. Shards imbedded in woodwork like arrowheads. Chunks of fiberglass blown out of the base.

The store where I bought it immediately gave me the manufacturer's customer service direct phone number. Their first words were "Was anybody hurt!" I assured them not even close. "Have you cleaned up the mess?" Not yet. "Please take lots of pictures first." "And if possible use a shop vac to clean up because it's safer." "Are you certain nobody was hurt?"

The follow-up went like this.

1. I was promised a new door and all hardware in 2 days. And it happened.

2. A manufacturing engineer called the next day. Asked again if anyone got hurt. Wanted to help with obtaining a contractor to install the replacement. Wanted to help find a contractor to repair the peripheral damage.

Why all the interest I asked. So he told me that the odds of this happening were about 2 per million, usually caused by tiny impurities that occur in the manufacturing process. Causes an internal stress which could let go immediately or wait a year or never be a problem. Based on their production volume, they get a few of them every year because there isn't a practical fix yet. And they do whatever they can to stay out of court.

I have discovered recently that Jayco corporate is more than thrilled to put you in touch with their suppliers. I don't have a problem with that most of the time. Shortens the timeline dramatically. Because the manufacturers seem to care more for whatever reason.

Best of luck.

[The Gordens]

We had the same thing happen in our 2017 Designer after we had it about 6 months. Ours however was not the door but one of the side panels that does not move. Sleeping in the middle of the night we heard this crash and it just exploded all over the place. Jayco covered it under warranty for us. Had to purchase a cheap shower curtain and use a little duck tape for about a month waiting for the new glass.

[TnHiker]

I retired from a company that makes tempered glass. The company is an OEM for automotive. It is highly unlikely that the explosion was stress related. We only had 2 issues with stress explosion on automotive over a 20 year span. One was sunroofs the other was back windows. In both cases they were a result of faulty installation when the reason was finally arrived at not bad glass. I have the same shower doors in my camper. It was probably a result of how the glass was mounted to the rollers. If there are holes through the glass for mounting (I have never really looked at mine, guess I will now) that was probably the issue. If the slightest scratch or nick is made on the edge of a hole it will eventually explode. The holes are drilled in the glass when it is raw and flat. The glass is then heated, formed, and quenched/tempered. If the hole had a defect before temper or was damaged when mounted it is just a ticking bomb ready to go off any time. If there is a hole used for mounting on these doors there should be a plastic or rubber bushing through the hole and washers on both sides to prevent the bolts from nicking the glass. Tempered glass is extremely sturdy and virtually unbreakable if it never has a scratch or nick made on it. Like someone said you can hit with a ball bat, hammer, or practically anything else as long as it is not nicked or scratched. I have seen car back windows thrown on concrete and stood by people over 200 lb's and it won't break, tap it with and ice pick or automatic center punch with 10 lb's of force and it explodes. I am betting a bad piece of glass or a bad installation, nothing you did caused this.

[Shackrat]

So here's what is hopefully the end of the story...

It has been a little over a week since we got the trailer back. The dealer replaced just the single door instead of the entire assembly that Jayco sent. Interestingly, Jayco reversed the magnetic lap seal, on the repacement which meant it looked like it was sealed but did not actually seal properly.

I flipped the seal so the magnetic seals were at a compatible angle, but the doors were out of alignment and the magnets wouldn't engage. Took it back to the dealer a couple days later who realigned the doors so they're now as good as new.

The tech at SevenOs was kind enough to show me how to adjust the doors on my own just in case they come out of alignment in the future..

There is still some collateral damage; two gouges completely through the linoleum on the floor and numerous scratches on the vanity. The dealer was able to do a decent job with scratch cover on the vanity so I'm not going to worry about that anymore. I really don't want anyone messing with the floor so I'll probably just put a little super glue in the two cuts to keep them from coming up.

In the end, I am considering this to be case-closed. Jayco stood behind their warranty, and the dealer (SevenOs) was able to turn the repair around quickly.

Thank you all for your feedback and support.

[TCNashville]

Thanks for the follow up. Always nice to hear good news.

[2edgesword]

Thanks for posting this and thanks for the education from those with expertise in this area. I have these doors on my 28RLS. I am NOT telling my wife about this thread. She'll be up at night waiting for the explosion.

[TnHiker]

I have been on the road with the family and I looked over my doors. They indeed have holes drilled in the glass. They are mounted as I suspected with a bolt through the glass. The bolts are isolated from the glass by plastic mounts. This is typical of glass mounting. Automotive has been doing this for decades. Some have gone away from this type mounting on door glass and now they are mounted with a glued on plastic bracket that is then bolted to the window regulator. Hatch glass is still mounted with bolts through the glass. I suspect the door that exploded had a bad mounting bracket that allowed the bolt to contact the glass creating a fracture that caused the explosion. It was probably not due to mounting stress as the brackets are quite loose on the tracks. Like I said in an earlier post I would wager you could take that door with curve up laying on the floor and stand on it and it would not break I have seen car rear windows tested like this and they did not break. Glad your camper is back in service and you should be good to go. Have a great camping summer.

[norty1]

And thanks for taking the time to come back and give the forum the "end of the story".