Cindy, you apparently understand it better than I do... You point out a lot of interesting things...

I have a similar Q concerning what would happen if a non-grounded delta conductor were to "fault" to a grounded guy wire of a wye system... like on a shared pole, 19.9KV Delta on top and 4160/7200 Wye on the bottom...

[Linked Image]

In this photo, there are fiberglass insulators to prevent the scenario I've created here for discussion...

Go here for the other thread about this photo where the insulators were "brought to light"...
https://www.electrical-contractor.net/ubb/Forum5/HTML/000095.html

[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 12-23-2001).]

-Virgil
Residential/Commercial Inspector
5 Star Inspections
Member IAEI