A typical distribution network in Australia will look something like the below.
The "MV" section is a delta-connected "three-wire" system, so you are correct in asserting that there is no neutral wire. However, there is a path for neutral or "zero-sequence" currents to flow to ground, via the earthing 'zig-zag' transformer that is installed for this purpose. (The reasons for installing a earthing transformer deserve a separate question and answer.)
There are a few phenomena that may give rise to neutral current on a MV transmission line, but unbalanced LV loads, which cause a current to flow in the LV star-point/neutral, don't cause MV neutral current.
Why is that?
The picture above shows a delta HV, grounded-star LV system. There is a single-phase load which draws 1 unit (1 p.u.) of current from LV winding 1, with the current returning via the LV neutral.
What happens on the HV?
Each of the transformer's HV and LV windings are magnetically coupled by iron cores, so that the law of "amp-turns balance" must apply. I.e. conservation of energy applies between the pairs of HV and LV windings, HV1-LV1, HV2-LV2, and HV3-LV3.
That means that a 1 p.u. current on winding LV 1 must be balanced out by a 1 p.u. current on winding HV1. And since no current flows in LV2 or LV3, no current may flow in HV2 or HV 3 either.
By Kirchoff's Current Law, the 1 p.u. current in Winding HV1 must be sourced from HV line L1 and HV line L2. That is:
For a delta-HV, grounded-star-LV system, single-phase LV loads appear as phase-to-phase loads on the HV system.
This answers your original question: no matter how unbalanced the load on the LV side, no neutral current will flow on the HV side, so no neutral wire is needed.
This leads to the question of: "If no neutral wire is needed on the delta-connected system, why do we bother putting an earthing transformer on it?"
A couple of reasons I can think of - though I am uncertain on these, so don't quote me here...
- Without a connection to earth, the delta network would float relative to ground and might be at any arbitrary potential relative to ground. I.e. the MV system could rise up to 132,000V above ground voltage. The earthing transformer is needed to tie the MV system to ground and keep it from floating to dangerous voltages.
- 'Neutral' zero-sequence currents do flow on the MV network, i.e. from
capacitive line charging current. (Edit 2015-09-22: The charging current is balanced under normal conditions.) The earthing transformer gives these zero-sequence currents a place to go.
- The earthing transformer will be the most attractive return path for any short-circuit fault current resulting from a line-ground fault. So it's an attractive place to put a earth-fault detection relay.
The phase order should not matter and should not trip the phases. You've connected the transformer correctly and discarding the neutral on the primary side is fine. Just to be sure, your MEN is not an open or high leg delta?
The difference in the amp draw can be caused by two things:
- failure in one of the windings
- unbalance on the primary side
I would suggest to take the following actions:
- run an insulation test on the transformer
- verify if the unbalance is still within the limits
Also the 7 volts on the neutral will be caused by the phase unbalance.
Best Answer
Your 1st question, yes and common up earth and neutral, BUT are you qualified to do such work?
2nd question. If you measured the voltage between two hot wires you won't get 220 volts. You should see about 190 volts because line voltage is phase voltage (110 volts) x square root of 3 (1.732).
Question 3. I'm thinking about this one because potentially (possible apt word) appliances on one phase may cone into contact with appliances on a different phase and this would cause sparks if not properly insulated. Also, when you are old and infirm and you get an electrician round to fix or modify your AC distribution or ring mains he may be in for a big shock!