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So I just returned home to my apartment today after spending two weeks at home in Tennessee. I opened my door and saw big chunks of greyish milky white stuff in my hallway and thought, "What the heck?" I got a little closer and saw the globe to my hall light had apparently fallen and shattered. I haven't touched this light since I moved in and I hardly ever use it, so I'm not sure what would have caused it to work its way that loose so suddenly while I was gone. The fixture even looks a little crooked, but it could have been like that before and I would not have noticed because the globe was on it.I picked up the glass and vacuumed the area really good, then later I started seeing more little chunks of glass as far away as actually inside the bedroom and the living room. I thought, "Eh, maybe it was in my shoe or something when I walked back to the bedroom before I picked up the class." However, that theory was shot an hour later when I found a fairly good-sized chunk that had ended up on the lid to my laundry hamper, about 6 lateral feet and through a doorway, away from the globe. So if it fell straight down, I don't see how a chunk of class that large bounced up that high to land on the hamper.Given that, I've started wondering if it might have exploded. The light should not have been on at all while I was gone, and it still works just fine...the only unusual thing that should have been happening in my apartment is the fact that the air conditioning was off (it's a window unit). Would it have been possible for hot gases to have somehow built up inside the light during all of the hot days we've had while I was gone, and caused the light to explode?All in all, this is pretty bizarre... Hopefully I won't have problems getting the maintenance man here to replace the fixture. In the meantime, the light still works, it just has no globe. I guess I better check the one in the bedroom before it falls on my computer!

When a light falls and breaks, especially if it's a globe, glass can go everywhere! That's very likely all that happened.

Just checked the one in the bedroom...it was very very loose and fell off in my hand when I touched it! I'm sure glad I checked it before it fell into my desk and bounced glass into my closet... It should be secure now. Maybe all it did was fall, I dunno...that's just weird that I found a piece of glass where I did, completely away from all of the others...one rogue piece of glass.

Very good you checked, yes. They might not have been put in properly to begin with. If the screws aren't tightened evenly just the slight natural vibration in a house; walking on floors, etc can loosen them. I've had it happen before. When they hit the ground, they do kind of explode. Pieces fly everywhere. I have had one break and found a piece stuck in the drywall.

Might also be that the temperature changes caused it. I think metal expands more than glass with heat, so if it was on edge like your other one - the higher heat with you gone and the AC off may have been enough to expand the fixture and drop it.

If a light falls and Kari is not home... does it make a sound?

I don't know...you'd have to ask my downstairs neighbor...LOL.My upstairs neighbor likes to play his music loud enough to rattle my ceiling, so I'm thinking that probably contributed as well. I'll keep checking the one in the bedroom and if it becomes a problem, maybe the landlord will finally say something to him since he'll actually be costing him money then.

Quote, originally posted by Toasted7 »If a light falls and Kari is not home... does it make a sound?I dunno, the guy who lives above probably could have told her if he'd turn down his damn video games and music long enough to have heard it! It was either him or the person that lived there before, she sounded like she was 6'12" and 400 lbs or something when she walked across that apartment. LOL! Maybe a group effort? She started it, and the video game finished it. LOL!

wow that's wild. we have old funky nasty '70s globe light fixtures in our main bathroom right now. hubby got the bright idea to lift one out of the base to clean it. all he did was move it maybe a few inches and it shattered. if your globe fixture was old that could contribute to the explosion as well, it would be more sensitive to any ol' thing.

It's gremlins I tell ya........gremlins.

kari, i'm liking the new sig!

yeah those globes suck, i've dropped a couple before. and i rattled one loose inside a girl's house with the system in my old car:P, so yeah i'm sure the vibrations comin from your neighbor made a significant contribution to your lil problem. <--- and what does that mean?