III — Tests on a typical rural circuit

THERE HAS BEEN a growing conviction on the part of those closely associated with the problem of protection that in practise the present method of lightning arrester application on distribution systems involves too many uncontrollable factors. Connecting the primary arrester ground to the grounded secondary neutral appears to eliminate many of the uncontrollable factors. With such a connection the voltage between transformer windings under impulse conditions will not exceed the potential allowed by the arrester; this potential is so low that bushing flashovers or transformer failures should be practically eliminated. In proposing this the question naturally arises: Will such a connection introduce any additional hazard on the customer's premises and will it offer the advantage from the protection standpoint that apparently it should? Experience in those cases where this interconnection has been tried does not indicate any increased hazard, and the protection record seems to be far above that of the present connection.