555 LED flasher II


Posted on Sep 2, 2012

The 555 circuit below is a flashing bicycle light powered with three C or D cells (4.5 volts). The two flashlight lamps will alternately flash at a approximate 1.5 second cycle rate. Using a 4.7K resistor for R1 and a 100K resistor for R2 and a 4.7uF capacitor, the time intervals for the two lamps are 341 milliseconds (T1, upper lamp) and 326 milliseconds (T2 lower lamp). The lamps are driven by transistors to provide additional current beyond the 200 mA limit of the 555 timer. A 2N2905 PNP and a 2N3053 NPN could be used for lamps requiring 500 mA or less.


555 LED flasher II
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For additional current, a TIP29 NPN and TIP30 PNP could be used up to 1 amp. A PR3 is a 4.5 volt, 500 mA flashlight bulb. Two diodes are placed in series with the PNP transistor base so that the lower lamp turns off when the 555 output goes high during the T1 time interval. The high output level of the 555 timer is 1.7 volts less than the supply voltage. Adding the two diodes increases the forward voltage required for the PNP transistor to about 2.1 volts so that the 1.7 volt difference from supply to the output is not enough to turn on the transistor. You can also use an LED in place of the two diodes as shown in the lower schematic.




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