Re-introducing the “Hapyman” 15 amp power supply!  …a computer ATX that you can modify YOURSELF!

By OverMachoGrande
Aug 26, 2008

Let me officially re-introduce the “Hapyman” power supply!  It’s a modified computer ATX power supply that can run up to FIFTEEN AMPS!  ...That’s up to 500 diodes, and I don’t think ANYBODY is EVER going to need any more than that, so this more than suffices!  He’s probably going to sell them, too, if he can get his hands on some cheap sources (if he does, I’ll put that in my “power supplies” section).  Let’s first give the background of why this is HELLA IMPORTANT to what we are doing so we don’t leave anyone behind…

Ok, to recap… my device has “switchable zones”.  That means I have the option to use it one zone at a time, OR as a “full coverage” device.  Now, to use one zone at a time, I can just use my original 2.4 amp power supply that I used with my first helmet.  That will run up to 80 diodes, and my three sections have 73, 73, and 71 diodes so that will power a section-at-a-time just fine!  However, I no longer have as many options, do I?!  I can’t run it “full coverage” that way…

Therefore, to make the most options available I needed a (217 x 0.030 amps =) 6.51 amp power supply.  Well, as you know, choices are pretty limited in the market for 3 volt devices (or 3.3, whatever, same thing) with a lot of amps!  We’ve found some sites with the “Mean Well” adapters that can go up to 7 amps, but they are frequently backordered.  ...And also fairly pricey.

Well, this is where Hapyman at Regrowth comes in!  He modifies computer ATX power supplies to have plenty of amps, actually way more than what we need at a cheap cost.  Plus, he’s going to put together instructions on how YOU can do it, too! Like I said, he needs to find some good suppliers first before he can make them for people, but when he does I’ll have all his pricing and contact information current at the top of the “Power Supplies / Adapters” page in the “Supplies” section of my left side navigation toolbar.

Ok, now I want to talk about what *I* did to mine because you might be interested in doing the same thing, whether you buy one from Hapyman or make one yourself!  You probably already know that for me to use ANYTHING, it’s got to be very practical for me.  That’s what lead me to the creation of the first laser helmet anyway… I had to be able to move around and essentially function as if I wasn’t wearing it at all!  So that means I needed to have a LONG, LONG EXTENSION CORD.  I have to be able to go to the kitchen, the bathroom, my office, the den to watch “Family Guy”, whatever!  So, I need to buy a 50’ extension cord to adequately cover all of those places.

Unlike my adapter (and maybe the “Mean Well” power supplies), this 15 amp power is probably just a little to big to wear around, so the extension chord is actually NOT going to connect from the power supply to the wall… it’s going to connect from the power supply to the HELMET!

Therefore, we are going to cut off BOTH of the plug ends of the extension chord (and yes… that’s actually cheaper than just buying the wire)!

Ok, first-of-all, the 50 foot chord -because it goes such a long distance- HAS to be rated at the full amount of amps that you need!  Well, I went a step further, and I got an extension chord that could handle not only the 6.51 amps that I needed, but the FULL 15 AMPS that the power supply can give.  I’m not sure if it *has* to be that way, but that’s what I did just to be safe, and just for any future endeavors that may require more amps (adding LED’s for face wrinkles on the front, etc.).  So, you need a “12 gauge” extension chord.  Those can easily handle 15 amps.

I got this one at Lowes:

The have red/black ones a Home Depot, but they were out of them (I personally like the blue/black a little better anyway, even though red/black ones go with my helmet better!)

So, snip the first plug end off..

...and the other end:

Cut the rubber outside back to expose the wires inside and strip them with your automatic wire strippers:

Now, I had to thin out the bare wires BARELY because they wouldn’t fit into my “female disconnects”.  BE CAREFUL if you do this, though, because you are reducing the total amps.  Of course, with 15, I can afford to lose a little, so I think I’m quite fine…

I know, I know… it’d be better if I didn’t, but like I said, it’ll be good enough and I don’t want to have to find other disconnects when this solution works perfectly!

Ok, crimp on the “female disconnects”:

...and you put tape over the ends of the female disconnects (for security and support because they are going to get some pulling force), cut back the green grounding wire completely, and tape the end of the cord:

As you see, it fits into the back of the helmet nicely…

Now, you do the same thing to the other end, except Hapyman did all of the hard work here.

I opened up the inside, and he already had the wire disconnects attached, so I simply attached the wire disconnects he sent me (15 amp ones from radio shack), and connected it to that, put the chord through the hole, and closed it all up again!

Now, the extension chord is connected permanently to the power supply, and you can connect/disconnect it from the laser helmet:

And that’s it!  Yes, this extension chord is pretty heavy duty -and heavy!  So, I *always* tie it around my waist so I don’t have a lot of weight pulling on the connectors and the helmet…

...And there you go!  Free to move about a 50’ radius from my power supply, and I’m assured that my helmet still gets all the power it needs because it’s 12 gauge/15 amps!

To end this, I want to show you this picture again because it’s just totally BADASS! It’s REAL, too! lol…

Yep, truly UNLIMITED POWER...

-O.M.G.