Haier HNSE05SS freezing up + conversion questions

I was able to pick up a Haier HNSE05SS yesterday from the local thift store. I was lucky enough to be there just as the previous owner finished dropping it off and he told me that it worked great. When I bought it home last night I cleaned it out and disconnected the temp probe from the bottom of the freezer basket so that I could bend the freezer to the rear of the fridge. The wires going to the probe are pretty rigid so it's still hanging about where it would be if attached to the freezer. I plugged in the fridge and set it to temp 3 out of 7. This morning the bottle of water I had placed in the fridge was frozen solid. Is there any magic to the temp probe being attached to the freezer basket? I am thinking possibly the built in temp controller is bad but who knows.

Secondly, has anyone used this model for Kegertor conversion? I found one build on this site but the poster never updated the finished product photos. From my understanding there is no refrigerant lines in the top?

I saw that the builder in that post used a ranco temp controller, what is the advantage of a separate controller? If I were to buy one, whats the preferred model these days?

Thanks

The temp probe needs to be attached to where it was originally. You could also put a glass of water in the frig and put the probe in the water. But it sounds like the thermostat is calibrated for freezing. So it will always be looking for 32 to shut off. Try it at the warmest setting and see what happens.

You can convert pretty much any frig into a kegerator. Lines in the top aren't really a problem if you are careful. I have done conversion with them all over the top.

If you do by a controller get a Johnson.