Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/06/20/dangerous-coffee-mugs-leave-consumers-burned-and-bloodied.html
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‘Bad design’ strikes again.
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Borosilicate glass (Pyrex) has been around for over 100 years and was specifically created to solve this exact problem. How incompetent were these product designers that they couldn’t specify the right material for the job?
If you were hurt by one of these, think about hiring a discount lawyer, or giving your cousin Vinnie a shot at your case. It’s not going to take a legal genius to win these cases.
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This wouldn’t have happened if they’d just read the manual…
(But seriously, my sympathies to the people cut and burnt by these low quality, really expensive mugs)
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Oops! Someone ran a batch of the wrong kind of glass. I expect they are looking for a new job if it can be traced to one person.
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Since Amazon is basically an Alibaba reseller these days, I’m amazed a product sold on there has a manufacturer that’s both accountable and still exists.
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I’d be curious whether it was actually a mistake. Borosilicate is the preferred material for thermal shock; but it’s more expensive and not as good on drop resistances vs. tempered soda-lime glass.
Across over half a million units “more expensive” starts to sound pretty compelling. Surely we’re covered if the directions nobody reads piously instruct people to not use the hot-beverage containers in a way that would expose them to thermal shock?
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Consumer Pyrex in the US is not typically borosilicate glass, and hasn’t been for some time.
This. Coupled with kicking home economic and cooking classes to the curb and somehow people don’t know what thermal shock is. This occurs a lot more than people realize in the world of ceramic baking dishes. People pop leftovers directly from fridge into a +350°F oven and sometimes the dish cracks, shatters, or explodes.
I would be interested to know if these are at least tempered glass. Given that they are just cracking at the base I doubt it.
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There’s a frankly sneaky trademark situation around “Pyrex”. “Pyrex glass” is specifically a borosilicate. “Pyrex” glassware from Corning is still usually borosilicate(certain exceptions appear to exist in “Pyrex Vista”, ‘prices that even the most concious school can afford’); but Corelle Brands “Pyrex” can be whatever they prefer.
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You can easily tell whether or not something is made of borosilicate glass vs soda-lime.
Borosilicate stuff has a yellow or orange tint to it. Soda-lime has a green or blue tint.
You have to look through the thicker parts, but it’s really obvious.
I think the difference is Pyrex vs. PYREX. The all caps will be borosilicate.
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There was an internet thing going around that claimed there was a difference, but both the all-caps and lowercase logos have been used for both types of glass over the years. The only way you can really tell is either to know how old it is (borosilicate stopped production in the US about 30 years ago), or by looking at the color (clear-yellow for borosilicate, green for soda lime).
Even soda lime glass is fairly reliable, except for extreme heat differentials, like going from the freezer to a hot oven, or from the oven to a cold countertop. Hot liquids aren’t nearly as hot as an oven, and most people don’t store their coffee mugs in the fridge. I’m guessing the manufacturing process led to internal stresses in the glass, making it more susceptible to thermal shock.
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I believe the product was advertised by Declan as being made of borosilicate glass (as with Declan’s other cup/mugs). Either the manufacturer got the chemistry and/or other manufacturing requirements wrong, or the mug wasn’t actually made from borosilicate glass.
Note: When borosilicate glass shatters – it shatters like a son of a b. On two occasions my first employer loaned out rotameters (graduated borosilicate glass tubes for gauging flowrate) to Stennis Space Center and Cape Canaveral for engine/equipment field ops, and on both occasions a tube (protected by the users’ own relief valves) exploded at less than the rated safe operating pressure, although there was manufacturer documentation stating that the tubes had been proof-tested to 1.5 times their SOPs before leaving the factory. And SSC’s and the Cape’s uses involved very little changes in temperature. Since anything involving “flow” and “test” was in my wheelhouse, I got the wonderful job of figuring out what was going on. The rotameter maker – Brooks – ignored all questions and repeated requests for information, which takes us back to the possibility of bad chemistry plus proof-testing not being performed or only random testing by lots… all of which I hit the ever-silent Brooks with. BTW: Even properly made borosilicate glass can eventually shatter if it goes through enough high-range thermal cycling.
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I’m surprised it lasts as long as it does. In the lab I worked at, we routinely had flask held directly in bunsen burner to being rinsed in the sink. Over the 5 years I worked there, I only recall one shattering in the sink.
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Mechanical wear (ex: scratches) can also weaken the material.
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