TEC MINNEAPOLIS BLOWER DOOR 3 User manual

MODEL 3
MINNEAPOLIS BLOWER DOOR™
USING THE DG-700 WITH THE
MINNEAPOLIS BLOWER DOOR

2
USING THE DG-700 WITH THE MINNEAPOLIS BLOWER DOOR
Before the Test
• Install the blower door frame, panel and fan into an exterior doorway. For instructions about how to do this, please see
Chapter 2 of the Minneapolis Blower Door User Manual.
• Prepare the building for the blower door test. For instructions about how to do this, please see
Chapter 3 of the Minneapolis Blower Door Manual.
Tube Hookup
1. Attach one end of the green tube to the Channel A reference tap. Run the other end of the
tubing outside through one of the holes provided in the lower corner of the nylon panel.
2. Attach one end of the red tube to the Channel B input tap. Attach the other end of the red
tube to the pressure tap on the blower door fan.
Note: For help with how to connect the tubing to the DG-700, please use the Tubing Assistant
on our website.
Conducting the Test
CONDUCTING A ONE-POINT DEPRESSURIZATION TEST
1. Turn on the DG-700 and place it in the proper mode
Turn on the gauge and press the MODE button twice to put the gauge into the PR/ FL @50 mode. In this specialized test
mode Channel A is used to measure building pressure while Channel B is used to display estimated building leakage at a test
pressure of 50 Pascals (CFM50). The leakage estimate shown on Channel B is determined by mathematically adjusting the
actual air ow from the blower door fan to a test pressure of 50 Pascals, using the real-time Channel A building pressure
reading and a Can’t Reach 50 factor, which can be found in the Blower Door Manual on page 9.
2. Measure the baseline building pressure
When conducting a blower door test, we want to measure the change in building pressure caused by air owing through the
blower door fan. In order to measure this change accurately, we need to account for any existing pressures on the building
caused by stack, wind and other driving forces. This existing building pressure is called the “baseline building pressure.”
The DG-700 has a built-in baseline measurement procedure which allows the user to quickly measure and record the baseline
pressure on Channel A, and then display the baseline adjusted pressure. This feature makes it possible to “zero out” the
baseline building pressure on Channel A, and display the actual change in building pressure caused by the blower door fan.
With the fan sealed off, begin a baseline building pressure reading from Channel A by pressing the BASELINE button. The
word “BASELINE” will begin to ash in the Channel A display indicating that the baseline feature has been initiated. Press
START to start the baseline measurement. During a baseline measurement, Channel A will display a long-term average
baseline pressure reading while Channel B is used as a timer in seconds to show the elapsed measurement time. When
you are satised with the baseline measurement, press the ENTER button to accept and enter the baseline reading into the
gauge. The Channel A display will now show an ADJ icon to indicate that it is displaying a baseline adjusted building pressure
value. Note: Once a baseline measurement has been taken and entered into the gauge (i.e. ADJ appears below the Channel A
reading), a new baseline measurement procedure can be initiated by pressing the BASELINE button.

3
USING THE DG-700 WITH THE MINNEAPOLIS BLOWER DOOR
3. Choose a ow ring for the blower door fan
Remove the No-Flow Plate from the blower door fan and install the ow ring
which you think best matches the needed fan ow. Installation of ow rings will
depend on the tightness level of the building stock being tested. For example, for
relatively leaky buildings (greater than 3,000 CFM50), you will want to start the
test using the Open Fan conguration (i.e. no ow rings installed). As you test
tighter buildings, you will need to install ow rings A or B. Refer to the table for
approximate ow ranges of the fan using the various ow rings congurations.
Don’t worry if you guess wrong and start the test with the incorrect ow ring -
you can change the fan conguration during the test procedure.
4. Enter the selected ow ring into the gauge
In order for the DG-700 to properly display fan ow, you need to input the blower door fan model and selected ow ring into
the gauge. Check (and adjust if necessary) the selected test Device (i.e. fan) and Conguration (i.e. ow ring) shown in the
upper part of the gauge display to match the fan and ow ring used in the test.
5. Press the DEVICE button to change the selected blower door fan.
6. Once the fan is selected, the conguration of the fan can be selected by pressing the CONFIG button. The currently selected
ow ring conguration is shown in the Cong section of the gauge display.
Also be sure that Channel B is showing the proper air ow units for your test (this should typically be set to CFM). Units can
be changed by pressing the UNITS button.
7. Turn on the fan for an initial inspection
Turn on the blower door fan by slowly turning the fan controller clockwise. As the fan speed increases, the building
depressurization displayed on Channel A should also increase. As you increase the fan speed, you will be increasing the
pressure difference between the building and outside resulting in increased pressure exerted on the aluminum door frame
installed in the door opening. If you did not properly install the door frame, the frame may pop out of the doorway at higher
building pressures (over 30 Pascals). If this happens, simply reinstall the frame more securely. When installed properly, the
frame will easily stay in place during the entire test procedure. Before making measurements, you may want to quickly walk
around the building with the fan producing about 30 Pascals of building pressure to check for any problems such as windows
or doors blown open or blowing ashes from a re place or wood stove.
8. Make nal adjustments to the blower door fan
Cong Setting Flow Ring
Open No ow ring
A1 Ring A
B2 Ring B
C3 Ring C
D Ring D
E Ring E

4
USING THE DG-700 WITH THE MINNEAPOLIS BLOWER DOOR
• If Manually Controlling the Fan
Continue to increase fan speed until the building depressurization shown on Channel A is between –45 and –55 Pascals. Do not
waste time adjusting and re-adjusting the fan speed control to achieve a test pressure of exactly -50 Pascals – just get close
to the target pressure. As long you are using the PR/ FL @50 mode and the test pressure displayed on Channel A is within 5
Pascals of the -50 Pascal target pressure, any errors introduced by estimating the leakage on Channel B will typically be very
small (less than 1%).
• If Using Cruise Control
Turn the blower door speed control knob to the “just on” position (i.e. the controller is on but the blower door fan is not turning).
Now press the Begin Cruise (Enter) button. The Channel A display will now show the number 50 (your target Cruise pressure).
Press the Start Fan (Start) button. The blower door fan will now slowly increase speed until the building depressurization
displayed on Channel A is approximately 50 Pascals.
Channel B will now display the One-Point CFM50 leakage estimate. If the leakage estimate is uctuating more than desired, try
changing the Time Averaging setting on the gauge by pressing the TIME AVG button and choosing the 5 or 10 second or Long-
term averaging period. Record the CFM50 test reading.
Turn off the fan. If you are using Cruise Control, this is done by pressing the Stop Fan (Clear) button.
Whenever “-----” or “LO” appears on Channel B in the PR/ FL @ 50 mode, the DG-700 can not calculate a reliable leakage
estimate. The messages “-----” and “LO” appear on Channel B under the following three conditions
»“-----” is continuously displayed when the building test pressure from Channel A is below a minimum value of 10 Pascals.
Estimating leakage results when the test pressure is below this value may result in unacceptably large errors. If possible,
install a larger ow ring or remove the ow rings to generate more fan ow.
»“LO” is continuously displayed when there is negligible air ow through the test device.
»“LO” alternates with a ow reading when the air ow reading through the device is unreliable (i.e. you are trying to
measure a ow outside of the calibrated range of the test device in its current conguration). If possible, you should
change the test device conguration to match the ow rate being measured (e.g. install a ow ring or a smaller ow ring).

5
USING THE DG-700 WITH THE MINNEAPOLIS BLOWER DOOR
Before the Test
• Install the blower door frame, panel and fan into an exterior doorway. For instructions about how to do this, please see
Chapter 2 of the Minneapolis Blower Door User Manual.
• Prepare the building for the blower door test. For instructions about how to do this, please see
Chapter 3 of the Minneapolis Blower Door Manual.
Tube Hookup
1. Attach one end of the green tube to the Channel A reference tap. Run the other end
of the tubing outside through one of the holes provided in the lower corner of the
nylon panel.
2. Attach one end of the red tube to the Channel B input tap. Attach the other end of the
red tube to the pressure tap on the blower door fan.
3. Attach one end of the clear tube to the Channel B reference tap. Run the other end of
the tubing outside through one of the holes provided in the lower corner of the nylon
panel. The end of the clear tubing should be placed next to the side of the fan, but
not in the fan’s airstream.
Note: For help with how to connect the tubing to the DG-700, please use the Tubing Assistant on our website.
Fan Direction
Before conducting the pressurization test, make sure the fan direction is reversed by
removing the fan from the nylon panel, and re-inserting it with the exhaust side facing
inside the building.
Note: If you have an older blower door fan, it may have a reverse switch. You cannot
use the reverse switch to get accurate ow readings, you must turn the fan around.
Conducting the Test
To conduct the pressurization test, follow the same instructions provided in the depressurization test section of this guide,
which starts on page 2.
CONDUCTING A ONE-POINT PRESSURIZATION TEST

2801 21st Avenue South
Suite 160
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55407
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
energyconservatory.com
© 2017 The Energy Conservatory
Updated Aug 2017, V1
Software Information
The Energy Conservatory (TEC) offers a variety of Windows-based programs. These programs can be found and downloaded for free
at software.energyconservatory.com.
TEC also offers driver support for the DG-500, DG-700 and DG-1000. The drivers are designed to work with Windows-based
computers with the following operating systems:
• Windows 7
• Windows 8
• Windows 8.1
• Windows 10
The drivers are available through Windows Update, and the DG-500 and DG-700 drivers can be downloaded from TEC at
software.energyconservatory.com.
TEC also offers mobile apps for Apple and Android devices that can be found in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.
Instructional Videos
The Energy Conservatory (TEC) offers a variety of online instructional videos, including
• Minneapolis Blower Door Quick Guide
• Minneapolis Duct Blaster Quick Guide
• Field Calibration Checks for Gauges
• Pressure and Airow Basics
• Exhaust Fan Flow Meter
• TECLOG3
• TECTITE 4.0
• And many more
Visit www.YouTube.com/EnergyConservatory to see all of TEC’s instructional videos.
More Blower Door Guides
All blower door guides are available online at energyconservatory.com/blowerdoorguides
Please refer to the guides listed below for further instructions.
USING THE DG-700 WITH THE MINNEAPOLIS BLOWER DOOR
• Minneapolis Blower Door Overview
• Minneapolis Blower Door Manual
• Using the DG-1000 with the Minneapolis Blower Door
• Test Results and Sample Test Forms