Haier HNSE05SS Kegerator Conversion

[Skullduggery65]

First off, thank you to timbudtwo for his thread and the Home Brew Talk forums for the wealth of information. I stumbled upon a Haier HNSE05SS for $20 on craigslist and decided it was worth the minimal investment to try to turn this minifridge into a kegerator. This is my first build, and so far I'm having a lot of fun with it.

The Haier HNSE05 is a mini fridge with a freezer compartment, which I quickly realized was not desirable, so step 1 was flattening the freezer shelf and bending it upright and relocating it to the rear of the fridge. Basically I just followed timbudtwo's steps, made sure the fridge was room temp and did this carefully.

Next I cut the plastic shelving/insulation off the door. This is definitely needs some more finishing touches, basically just a hack job at this point. Function over form.

Last, I cut a 3 inch hole in the top for the tower. Used a dremel for this. I still haven't punched all the way through to the plastic inside on the fridge yet.

I plan on ordering a tower kit from Keg Connection w/ upgraded Perlick faucets. As far as the kegs go, I'm undecided whether to get ball-lock or pin-lock. I measured the inside of the fridge and it looks like I roughly have 28" height x 17.5" width x 12" depth not including the space above the hump where I plan to put the CO2 tank.

I was told the ball-lock corny's are 25" x 8.5" and the pin lock are 22" x 9.5

I definitely have the height to pull off either but I think I'm going to go with ball lock to be on the safe side on width. I know they'll be staggered, but I don't know what math equation I need to use to determine if I have enough room for the pin lock.

I plan on also running a computer fan inside the fridge to move the air around, right now my temperature readings are very cool but I'm still playing with the thermostat settings from the fridge.

Am I missing anything? Do I need to look into a way to cool the tower?

 

[Skullduggery65]

Update: My keg connection dual faucet tower kit has been ordered. I should get it next week and will post more pictures and updates soon. I have the original thermostat set to "1" and it's holding temps at 41 degrees but I don't have the fans installed yet. Still need some adjustments there.

 

[Skullduggery65]

Some updates... my kit from Keg connection arrived yesterday. Over the weekend I finished with the 3" hole in the top of the fridge by removing the insulation there, and cutting through the plastic liner in the fridge. Be advised, there is a power cable running right through the center of the top of the fridge where I cut. I just made my cuts very shallow and pushed the wire to the side of the hole. Obviously be very careful and unplug the fridge before doing any of that.

I'm wondering how to get a fan into the fridge. Do most people cut a hole on the back or the side to run the power cable out to an outlet (my fan is pre-wired and ready to plug into a wall outlet)? I guess I could do that, what type of sealant would I use to cover the hole so I don't have a leak?

Once my kit arrived, the first thing I did was make sure I had enough room for everything in the fridge. Success!

CO2 on the hump:

Kegs added to fridge:

Next I mounted the tower.

I have not connected the lines yet, will do that tonight. Now I just need the CO2 filled and beer in the kegs.

(Almost) Finished product:

 

[SurfersBrew]

I've been searching around for good pics of successful conversions for the Haier HNSE05 you have here and the same model as timbudtwo and was wondering how well it is working? I wanted to use this conversion to do a couple sanke 1/6 kegs, but I'm not sure if two of those would fit in this fridge. Thoughts? Looks great and has me getting more amped about working on the fridge.

 

[kkdenver]

In case you're wondering, pin lock kegs don't even come close to fitting. Now I have to decide if I should get a new fridge or get ball lock kegs

 

[SurfersBrew]

In case you're wondering, pin lock kegs don't even come close to fitting. Now I have to decide if I should get a new fridge or get ball lock kegs

What about a single 1/6 Sanke Keg? I need to just go to my local brewery here and see if I can measure a keg. The measurements I am getting online say 9 1/4" diameter and if that is the case one will fit, but two is unlikely. I would love to use this fridge for a double tap though =(

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

What about a single 1/6 Sanke Keg? I need to just go to my local brewery here and see if I can measure a keg. The measurements I am getting online say 9 1/4" diameter and if that is the case one will fit, but two is unlikely. I would love to use this fridge for a double tap though =(

Judging from the pics, the 9" ball lock kegs he is barely able to fit two into this thing ...he has maybe a cm or two of space...not the whole 1/2 extra you would need to fit two sanke kegs at 1/4" extra diameter a piece over ball lock.

 

[kkdenver]

What about a single 1/6 Sanke Keg? I need to just go to my local brewery here and see if I can measure a keg. The measurements I am getting online say 9 1/4" diameter and if that is the case one will fit, but two is unlikely. I would love to use this fridge for a double tap though =(

Pin locks are about 9" diameter and they didn't fit at all. Ball locks are 8.5" and they fit. I guess you could put a collar on the door if you really wanted to but I wound up trading my kegs in at a local shop instead.

 

[SurfersBrew]

Judging from the pics, the 9" ball lock kegs he is barely able to fit two into this thing ...he has maybe a cm or two of space...not the whole 1/2 extra you would need to fit two sanke kegs at 1/4" extra diameter a piece over ball lock.

That was my thoughts, but I have already removed the plastic from the door and if you look the door actually allows for ALMOST a half inch from where his staggered ball locks are placed (judging from measuring on my own Haier). It would be a real shame if two just wouldn't fit =( Time to take a trip down to the local brewery and see if I can get some exact specs because it looks like the sankey's are too big.

 

[Skullduggery65]

The ball locks are a tight fit, but they fit, I thought pin locks might fit but it sounds like they don't. That's a shame. I'm not sure about the Sanke.

Good luck guys!

 

[SurfersBrew]

The ball locks are a tight fit, but they fit, I thought pin locks might fit but it sounds like they don't. That's a shame. I'm not sure about the Sanke.

Good luck guys!

Went to the Old Mecklenberg Brewery here in Charlotte (amazing local beer) and was able to measure some sankey kegs the 1/6 Sankey measures just between 9 1/4" to 9 3/8" diameter, which I do not think will fit. What is the diameter of the ball lock 1/6 keg? How tight of a fit is it in your Haier? In theory that means I would need a minimum of a 1/4" more, since they are staggered, to fit two sankey kegs if the ball locks at 9" in diameter. Thanks for your responses it will be greatly beneficial to my project!

 

[kkdenver]

Ball locks are 8.5"x25", pin locks are either 22" or 23" by 9"

 

[SurfersBrew]

Well damn I think that is just not going to work. I bet a quarter keg would fit if you put the small shelf back in on the bottom, but that means removing the plastic on the front door was kind of unnecessary. Decisions, decisions...

 

[SurfersBrew]

Skullduggery65, did you remove the thermostat? If so did you just connect black to white as timbudtwo stated on his thread?

 

[Skullduggery65]

I did not remove the thermostat.

 

[idigg]

Skull, thanks for the thread. I have the same exact fridge. When using the stock thermostat, how cold is the beer generally speaking in the 2 kegs? I want to try and get by without an external controller like you. Thanks!

 

[Skullduggery65]

Mine gets plenty cold, in the 38-40 degrees neighborhood.

 

[idigg]

I just bent my freezer compartment towards the back, and I plugged it in. It almost sounds like water is falling and then it starts hissing. Am I screwed?

 

[Skullduggery65]

I just bent my freezer compartment towards the back, and I plugged it in. It almost sounds like water is falling and then it starts hissing. Am I screwed?

That doesn't sound good. You may have lost all of your refrigerant. Did you do this when it was at room temp?

 

[kkdenver]

I just bent my freezer compartment towards the back, and I plugged it in. It almost sounds like water is falling and then it starts hissing. Am I screwed?

Mine makes all kinds of weird noises, I wouldn't call any of them hissing though. Are there any cracks where you bent the pipe?

 

[idigg]

I had it unplugged for 5 days and then bent it back yesterday. My basement is 60*F though. I don't see any cracks but I'm sure I can't see it. There goes my $200 fridge, not sure what to do with it other than throw it away. I'm going to let it run for 10min tonight and see what happens.

 

[Skullduggery65]

I had it unplugged for 5 days and then bent it back yesterday. My basement is 60*F though. I don't see any cracks but I'm sure I can't see it. There goes my $200 fridge, not sure what to do with it other than throw it away. I'm going to let it run for 10min tonight and see what happens.

Not sure if this would work since the gas will have probably already escaped, but you could try spraying soapy water on the tube to see if any bubbles form.

 

[bleme]

Someone just listed this fridge on Craigslist and I am looking for a fermentation chamber.
Can you tell me what the height is above the hump?