Beachcomber wrote:


What about the transfromer at the pole? Is the neutral center-tap in
the North American System bonded to the transformer enclosure? Is
this point often connected to a ground wire running down the pole and
into the earth?

Also, why in the US systems is the top wire on the pole the hot wire
(for the transformer primary) and the neutral is usually several feet
below this? Is this arrangement not more prone to lightning damage?

That was the old way - keeping the hot wire as far from people/animals
as possible. The vast majority of new installations will put the
ground wire on top.

But what about the rural Canadian systems where there is only a hot
wire with no ground at all? Are they any more susceptable to lightning
than a US hot top wire system?