Wharton Corporate Center1 Harry Shupe Blvd., Wharton, NJ 07885

973-537-0400

How you can contact Longo...

Linden Servicenter1625 Pennsylvania Ave.

Linden, NJ 07036Tel: 908-925-2900908-925-9427 Fax

New York Servicenter829 East 144th St.Bronx, NY 10454Tel: 718-585-5330718-585-5337 Fax

Philadelphia Servicenter1400 F Adams Rd.

Bensalem, PA 19020Tel: 215-638-1333215-638-1366 Fax

1 HARRY SHUPE BLVDWHARTON, NEW JERSEY 07885

Service Through KnowledgeService Through KnowledgeTMTM

Joseph M. LongoPresident

THELONGO LETTERThe Largest Independent Electrical-Mechanical Sales and Service Company in the Northeast

VOLUME 5 ISSUE 1 OVER 65 YEARS WINTER 2014

Visit our website www.elongo.com

orsend us an e-mail atinfo@elongo.com

2013 was a pretty good year for Longo and the Longo’s. Th e icing on the cake for this dad was that my daughter Krista was named Outstanding Performer in the NCAA III soc-cer fi nals in Texas in December. But enough “proud Papa” for now. As we have mentioned before, in the latter part of 2013 we were involved in getting ready for an exciting 2014. Equipment and personnel have been upgraded. New vehicles and other transpor-tation equipment will expand the types of jobs for which we can eff ectively compete. Our associates who are now NETA certifi ed worked hard for their tests and it has shown in the work they are doing. Facilities have been spruced up as well. In addition to impressing our customers when they visit, we are planning a video to show a slice of who we are and how we work.

Pent up and bone dry budgets in 2013 will begin to operate again in the new year. Our sales force has been picking up the pace trying to see both old customers and prospecting for new ones. How oft en have we seen that being in the right place at the right time makes a big diff erence in getting a job or missing it. To support our sales staff we will be doing some intelligent outbound email cam-paigns. Th e idea is to give you information you

www.elongo.com

We have been updating our website, so stop on by and see what is new and interest-ing!

Th is past December Joseph M. Longo, president, announced he was

taking a few days off and heading to San Antonio. Whether personal

or business, Joe is not usually so outspoken about his plans until

we learned he was going to see his daughter Krista play in the Division

III NCAA women soccer fi nals.

Here at Longo we have been well aware of Krista’s soccer talents, lead-

ing her high school, Villa Walsh, to championships. At the same time

making several all-star teams for her own accomplishments. However, there are thousands of high school

all-star athletes that never succeed in the collage ranks. Krista has been the

exception and exceptional.

Th e William Smith team had made it to the “fi nal four” by posting a

record of 21-1-0. In the semifi nal game Krista scored the winning

goal, and only goal, in a 1-0 struggle with Capital that put them into the

championship game against Trinity. William Smith took the lead 1-0 and

then Krista sealed the victory, 2-0, over Trinity with a goal of her own.

Although her team is fi lled with nationally recognized players and coaches, Krista Longo was named

“Outstanding Player” in the champi-onship tournament.

When Krista is not in school she can be found fi lling in around our

Wharton offi ce. Unlike some ”bosses’ daughters” she doesn’t spend time

texting and surfi ng on her smart phone. With the same determi-

nation she shows on the fi eld she tackles a myriad of assignments from fi eld service statistics to job reports.

Congratulations on a great season and good luck next year.

Krista Longo, a champions’ performance.

Top: Krista Longo holding the champi-onship trophy. Middle: on her scoring

run in the fi nals gameBottom: Krista watching her goal sail

over the goalies reach in the championship game.

1. Adam, a keeper for the Arrows, catches a shot on goal. He drops the ball to the ground and dribbles out of the penalty area. Daniel, a forward for the Strikers, challenges Adam and kicks the ball back into the penalty area. Adam, while his body is still outside the penalty area, reaches back into the penalty area with his hands and secures the ball. What action should the referee take? a. No action b. A yellow card for Daniel and an indirect kick for the Ar-rows, c. A direct free kick for the Strikers because the keeper handled the ball out side his penalty area d. A penalty kick for the Strikers because the keeper touched the ball in the penalty area when he wasn’t fully in the penalty area 2.. The referee starts play with a dropped ball. Sam, playing for the Bears, kicks the ball before it touches the ground. It goes off his opponent into his own goal. His opponents the Wolves, start celebrating. What action should the referee take? a. Award a goal to Wolves and restart with a kickoff b. Waive off the goal, and award a corner kick to the Wolves c. Waive off the goal, and award an indirect kick to the Wolves from the spot of the dropped balld. Waive off the goal and restart play from the original dropped ball spot with another dropped ball

can use. Fast reads with links so you can quickly see if there are pieces that relate to what you are doing in your facility. We’ll leave the articles on “how to manage your business” and “secrets to fortunes on the internet” up to you and concen-trate on some hard core electrical-mechanical information.

As we enter the new year, our diverse product and service off erings have allowed us the op-portunity to secure some interesting and all encompassing projects. In one case, we are sup-plying two 800HP drives, rewinding the motors for inverter duty operation, and furnishing two complete lineups of new Eaton switchgear. On another project, we are completely rebuilding two 100,000 GPM pumps, rebuilding the motors,fabricating complete new bases, performing full load testing of the pump/motor system and re-grouting and securing to the cement bed plate. Th ese jobs demonstrate the breadth of our skills and technical expertise. Providing these solu-tions with our own forces assures our custom-ers cost eff ective pricing, consistent quality and timely delivery. In the upcoming year, we will continue to build our Line to Load capabilities insuring we are your one source for best in class products and services.

SPORTS QUIZ

1. a, 2. d

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Our industry takes a while to adapt to changes in technology, but that is beginning to change. The idea of pulling electricity out of thin air has been around since Nicola Tesla did some very serious experiment-ing with it during his days in his lab in Colorado. Today, thanks to the reality of the electric car, some uses of electrical power is going from theoretical/ex-

perimental to the real world.

Magnetic Reso-nance and Electri-cal Transfer.The concept is fairly simple. Two copper coils are tuned to resonate at the same natural frequency – like wine glasses that vibrate when a specifi c note is sung. The coils are placed a few feet apart. One coil is con-

nected to an electric current which generates a mag-netic fi eld that causes the second coil to resonate. This magnetic resonance results in the invisible transfer of electric energy through the air from the fi rst coil to the receiving coil.

The NEW in this is that it is being designed to work with electric cars. The range of the magnetic force is the weak link prohibiting its application for signifi cant distances, but things are progress-ing. The plan is that an area, like a parking space, would have electric powered coils embedded in the pavement and the receiving coils would be on the bottom of the car. The original concept was a row of parking spaces with coils embedded where you would pull up, use a credit card to “fi ll up” in about 20 minutes. The next step is to embed the coils in the road way to provide recharging as you drive in that specifi c lane, making travel infi nite. This would drastically reduce the resistance to the electric cars due to their short driving range. Supposedly this would also reduce the size of the on board batteries and as such reduce the overall weight of the car, increasing their effi ciency. While this may seem like it is down the road and theoretical, one or more Japanese car makers are already testing the waters with reference to their electric vehicles and are ready to adapt to this new charging system as soon as it is available.

Taking this more than a few steps ahead, there is the

interest in this system for navigation and for traffi c data/con-trol. It is not quite clear what this means; perhaps you will be “guided” to alternate roads if you need to keep charging and driving. A GPS type system would keep you on target as far as being within the correct zone for recharging. This would also dovetail into the development of the “driverless car” that just runs forever!

Of course there are some potential drawbacks that need to be addressed. One is how to pay for all this recharging. I am sure the payment schemes will be worked out fairly easily. How or who is going to pay for the electrical infrastructure is another aspect that has not even been addressed yet. The second concern is that the 3-5% power loss/leakage may be harmful to the driver, passengers or the multitude of electronics in the vehicle. Hopefully the drivers’ feet won’t have blue sparks like the townspeople in Colorado where Tesla conducted his experiments! In New York City a recent current leak through manholes caused a ruckus when dogs walked over them, so the charging coils in the pavement should be just as exciting for pet owners and some people.

Since standing next to an active charging coil or sitting in a car that is receiving its recharge from an active coil presents some potential problems there are at least a dozen alphabet

agencies (DEP, EPA, DOT, etc.) that have some sort of fringe concern and or regulatory infl uence over this.

Once again technology is ahead of the lawmakers. Most of these agencies are active in the areas of

sustained workplace impact such as second hand smoke or chemicals in the atmosphere such as in manufacturing plants. Presently the emphasis is on potential tissue damage. Depending on the power of the resonant device and the distance from it,

skin tissue can be warmed in the area closest to the device. Since there is really no specifi c testing for this, they are relying on older criteria which address

the entire body, so if the leg or the rear end is glowing and the rest of the body is fi ne, it is cumulative effect that is

counted. Then there is where the effect is felt. The leg of an adult or the body of a child?

The second concern is the impact on all of the cars’ electrical systems from brakes to Bluetooth! While on one hand these new cars should be lighter with smaller batteries, additional shielding to protect people and electronics could eliminate those weight savings. It is interesting how theoretical and experi-

mental evolve into real world uses when there is money to be made.

Magnetic Resonance andElectrical Transfer

T H E A R T O F

M O T O RWINDING

While our electrical applications seem to be expanding quickly, however, rewinding motors by hand is defi -nitely a throwback skill. Something that dates back to when the very fi rst motor needed to be rebuilt. Today

there are automated winding machines, but they are more for motors, etc. that you can hold in your hand, not motors you can walk through.

Motors arrive in our shops in all states from completely blown to looking good, but testing poorly. If a rewind

is called for, the motor is completely disassembled. Depending on the type and age of the motors this can be a big, dirty and tedious job. All the coils have to be removed. Ovens, hammers, chisels, saws, and torches are the weapons of choice. As with the winding, there are no high tech solutions for this cleaning.

At Longo we have almost a dozen winders that range from a trainee to several with over 30 years experience, including a woman winder in our Linden Servicenter. The time it takes to train or educate a winder can vary depending on the individual. One of our top long time winders explained how and when he decided. While starting out handling coils in another shop he asked to try his hand at winding. It must be in his DNA because it didn’t take him long at all to get the feel for it and he has been doing it well for over 30 years.

An ingredient that makes our rewound motors so reliable is that there is a “Longo way” in the winding shop. When a new winder comes to Lon-go, no matter how well he did his job at his previous employer, there are procedures and techniques that are included in his/her training. Part of this is because of our ISO9001 certifi cation and its detail require-ments and the other is the accumu-lated experience and discipline of our top winders who keep an eye on the rewinds.

When you see a Longo rewind you

can tell it is right just by looking at it (We do test them all!). Sort of like a very neat bundle of chubby, snakes. This may sound a bit arrogant, but with all the ends tight and uniform, the insulation in the slots tight and smooth and the overall appearance is very pro-fessional. Add to this a coating of TemperFlex to seal the entire unit and a Longo winding looks right.

Learning to “wind” is not a generic license to tackle everything. There are stators, rotors, generators, and a host of equipment that is all diff erent. In the beginning it starts with the installation of the formed coils and their insula-tion. After that comes the connection pat-tern of the coil ends. There are more than 500 specifi c patterns based on the characteristics of a specifi c motor. Learning how to correctly con-nect the coils can be one of the most important and hardest jobs to accomplish.

In the end our winders com-bine technique, experience, and of course an artistic touch!

Top left ; An ugly arrival in the midst of clean up. Below; Our lead winder working a stator for a typical motor in our Wharton Servicenter. Below right; One of our top winders in Wharton checking the work of one of our newer winders. Below left : More photos of our Wharton winding area and our pros at work.

The one thing about noise and vibration is that they usually don’t get better by ignoring them. Letting them go without fi nding out what is caus-ing the problem is more likely to end in a big bang followed by silence. One of our customers has contracted Longo to repair a few very large verti-cal turbine pumps. We were in the midst of the job when they asked us to see what we could fi nd with this one pump we had not gotten to yet, that had been vibrating in the extreme.

When the basin was pumped out we found the suction bell had come off the bottom of the pump shroud! Looking at the 48 2” bolt holes it was evident that this bell had been gyrating and vibrating for the last few years during its overall 40 year life span. The 3.5 ton bell broke free when the bolts let go through a combination of wear, vibration and corrosion. At some point it could have been possible to stop the damage and save all the components, but now it reached a point of no return. The bolts not only came apart, but during the long period of vibration the bolt holes became elongated to the point they cannot be repaired. At fi rst glance maybe some welding could do the job, but the wear was to the point where a new shroud will have to be cast.

Had the bolts not been a problem, there was also evidence of severe cavitation inside the pump’s shroud lip as well.

There are companies out there that fi nd it economi-cal to just ignore maintenance, etc. and use the phi-losophy of Run to Fail. But those are mostly small motors and pumps that are looked at as commodi-ties. Situations of this magnitude don’t happen very often and there were a variety of circumstances involved.

Most often when problems arise it is a single part or component, but the equipment we deal with is never about isolated parts. Bearing, shafts, etc. all interact with one another and when one is weak or damaged it can begin to infect other parts and components.

This pump damage was obviously a black and white situation, but most are in that grey area when it is a judgement call when to shut it down and see what the problems are or could be. A perfect example for predictive maintenance programs. Why?

Hit or miss inspections are just that, a stab in the dark with no relevance. A structured plan can actu-ally predict (well, pretty close) when that bearing will go south or when that pump cavitation will begin tearing at the insides of your pump. Informa-tion is the key to keeping your equipment running soundly and being able to make the right call at the right time.

wocka, wocka, wocka, wocka, wocka, wocka, wocka,

Top and middle top; Examples of how the bolt holes were elongated due to the loose bolts. Middle bottom; the severe cavitation scouring on the shroud lip. Bottom; the pumped out basin showing the bell as it tried to escape!

The PG-Bikes Black Trail BT-01, which is a hybrid battery operated bicycle costs $80,000!!! Who in their right mind would pay $80,000 for a bicycle, no matter how “eco-friendly” it is?? Millionaires, and that is who this bike was aimed at, not the frugal book bag crowd.

Ok, what do you get when you spend $80,000 on a bicycle? You get a light weight carbon fi ber bicycle ( chassis, wheels and spokes too) which comes with a lithium ion battery pack and weighs 40 pounds (including battery weight), has a motor that produces 3.6

kilowatts of power, and you get LED headlight and taillights. The bicycle can cruise comfortably at 20-30 mph, at that speed it’ll give you a range of about 120 miles

and can reach a top speed of 62 mph but you can only travel for 25-30 miles at that speed and then you’d have to peddle back home using

human power. At 60 mph some areas consider this a moped not a bicycle!

Details count. Leather: The same leather that is used to encase the battery pack, is also used as the cover of the high quality Brooks saddle, the hand grips, and the lining of the handcuff style lock,

and even the caps on the valve stems.

HI-LINE ELECTRICBICYCLE

FOR THE WELLHEELEDElectrifying

BOOM!

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