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Hole size for gas line

Kegging
#1

It dawned on me yesterday that I should drill a hole in the side of my Haier kegerator for a gas line instead of having my 20lb tank inside where an extra keg could go for lagering/carbonating. Could someone tell me what size hole I’d need to drill for a 5/16" ID gas line? I plan to put a 3-way manifold inside. I only have two taps, but a third space for lagers and carbonating would be great. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this a long time ago, guess I didn’t want to modify my keg fridge in anyway. But I figured I might as well…

Thanks,

Jesse

#2

9/16 but only the hose it’s self will fit.

#3

Thanks. I guess the hose is all I need to fit in the hole. I’m assuming after the hole is drilled, the rough edges should be taped over or something?

#4

There won’t be any room to tape the hole, I never taped mine and I haven’t had any problems in 7 or 8 years that it’s been this way with 2 hoses going through there own holes.

I had 2 other ones that I sold that were done the same way without any issues.

#5

Right on, man! Danke! :cheers:

#6

Probably overkill, but I used a pass-through shank:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/4-pa ... shank.html

with a MFL flare tailpiece on either side:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/tail ... 4-mfl.html

Add in the cost of wingnuts, swivel nuts, washers, and oetiker clamps to finish the job and it turns out to be pretty damn pricey. If I had it to do over, I’d probably just do it your way.

#7

You could take your line to the local hardware store and get a rubber grommet to fit the line. Then drill the appropriate size hole for the grommet.

#8

The problem with doing this is it usually is a double wall with foam in between I guess you could install 2 of them one inside and one on the outside but like I said I’ve had no problem in years.

#9

This was suggested to me by a brewing friend and I thought it sounded odd and unnecessary. But, I think I’ll just do what chuck is saying and drill a 9/16" hole for the red 5/16" ID gas hose. Seems most people don’t have 9/16" drill bits, but I’m still waiting to hear from my stepdad about that. Otherwise, I may have to buy one quick on Saturday from Ace.

#10

Don’t hit a refrigerant line.

#11

ditto - don’t hit a refrigerant line. You can drill a small hole first and poke around with a hanger.

Some have mentioned that the CO2 hose can gradually get cut by the edge of the hole. I use grommets to prevent this.

#12

The fridge is chilled by a chiller plate on the back wall of the inside. I’m not worried about hitting a line of any sort.

#13

When I first converted a garage fridge, I had expert guidance telling me to drill a hole in the side of the door and found that is the easiest if any lines would be of question.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=108094&hilit=+fridge#p954111
#14

I got the hole drilled this weekend. It’s not a very clean cut, but it works. It took some doing to get the gas hose fed through, but it’s a nice tight fit, so hopefully it doesn’t result in too much temperature loss.
Thanks for the help, dudes.

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