Shattered 15 gallon carboys!

[Bbuck12]

Hello all,
I had a disturbing situation about two weeks ago. I had cleaned out some 15 gallon carboys last summer and stored them in a barn. There was no climate control. They were open side up with some aluminum foil on the opening to keep out dust. The temperature change from winter 10 degrees to summer 83 degrees. Went to move them this summer and they all basically shattered. Has anyone experienced this or know why?

 

[Sage]

Don't know why, but it almost sounds like they got water in them and froze.

 

[stickman]

Are these 15gal carboys or demijohns with the basket type protector? If so, I've seen some of these baskets have hay or shredded paper between the basket and glass that could become wet and freeze; not sure if this is a real problem, just a possibility. If the carboys were stored bare sitting on a shelf or the floor, it may be possible for them to become wet, blowing snow or possibly from condensation during changing weather conditions, depending on what they were sitting on, even freezing water or moisture underneath the carboys could be a problem.

 

[Bbuck12]

Some do have hay in between the bottle and basket. There may have been a little water it the bottom as I do not recall turning them upside down prior to storage.

The other thing that occurred is we had a batch of wine go bad and it stayed in the demijons for a year. Wonder if that had an effect

 

[beano]

Perhaps heavy condensation inside and freezing/thawing conditions are responsible for this.
Just a thought?