4 ms·

That’s absolutely terrifying! Was it a very old or poorly maintained oven? Please say yes...

• sevensor 9y ago
  Both. It was in a rented apartment. My best guess is that decades of heat cycling had caused the filament to sag.
  • MertsA 9y ago
    It probably wasn't sagging that killed it. Over time those elements will develop hot spots and eventually the hot spot fails spectacularly spewing sparks and plasma from the failure. It's kind of similar to a plasma cutter for a second as there's the small arc in the element which ionizes the gas and it blows it out from the element and if it hits something grounded I can totally see it punching a hole through sheet metal. https://youtu.be/EC_6urfu5UI?t=7m40s https://youtu.be/EC_6urfu5UI?t=7m40s
    • sevensor 9y ago
      Interesting. I'd totally buy that explanation.