1984 Hunter (Robbins & Myers) Original - White & Antique Brass with Reverse-Aire

On this week's edition of "Thing that should've been recalled but weren't", we have a Hunter Original, model 23306 in antique white finish with 22492 antique brass accessory face plate, 22592 antique white blades on antique brass Reverse-Aire irons, 22418 4" antique brass globe fitter and a non-Hunter 10" floral schoolhouse globe; made with Robbins & Myers, dated June 1984. It uses a 3-speed 2.5 amp shaded pole motor, which, as the opening statement implies, should've been recalled, but somehow was not. The reason why? These have an exponentially higher failure rate than their 2-speed 2.5 amp predecessors, due to a design flaw in how the wire leads attach to the stator. And when these do fail, they tend to do so in spectacular fashion. I know a fellow collector who had one of these installed in his house and by his word, it had a go at burning his house down. Also, while vacationing in southwest Florida as a kid, I recall seeing a brown Reverse-Aire in a shop in the Tin City complex (the same complex that also had a pair of brown 22206s with 10" round globes) with a post it note stapled to the pull chain that said "DO NOT TURN FAN ON", which in hindsight tells me that fan was a 3 speed 2.5 amp that failed. As for the production run, 3 speed 2.5s were only made very briefly, possibly less than a full year, which also contributes to their relative obscurity. I want to say the change over from 2 speed 2.5 to 3 speed happened by mid-1983, then in August 1984, Hunter changed over to the 1.1 amp permanent split capacitor Original motor, which was also electrically reversible. As for performance, these perform pretty much the same as any other 2.5 amp Original, but with a third speed added. Low is approximately the same RPM as low on the PSC motors that succeeded these. Medium, however, is the same RPM as the previous 2 speed motor's low, which I prefer over the PSC's medium, which is closer to being a backed off high speed. Honestly, I wish Hunter could've addressed the design flaw with this motor and given it a longer production run because it had a lot of unrealized potential.