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Fire Alarm using Thermistor

Fire Alarm Project using Thermistor and IC 555

Fire alarms are prime necessities in modern buildings and architectures, especially in
banks, data centers and gas stations. They detects the fire in ambiance at very early
stage by sensing smoke or/and heat and raise an alarm which warns people about the fire
and furnish sufficient time to take preventive measures. It not only prevents a big losses
caused by deadly fire but sometimes proves to be life savers. Here we are building
one simple fire alarm system with the help of 555 Timer IC, which will sense the fire
(temperature rise in surrounding), and trigger the alarm.

The key component of the circuit is Thermistor, which has been used as fire detector or
fire sensor. Thermistor is temperature sensitive resistor, whose resistance changes
according to the temperature, its resistance decreases with the increase in temperature
and vice versa.
We have built the circuit using, mainly three components that is, Thermistor, NPN
transistor and 555 Timer IC.
Working Concept
Here the 555 timer IC has been configured in Astable mode so that Alarm (Buzzer) can
produce an oscillating sound. In Astable mode, capacitor C charges though resistance R1
and R2, till 2/3 Vcc and discharges through R2 till it reaches to 1/3Vcc. During the
charging time OUT PIN 3 of 555 IC remains HIGH and during discharging it remains
LOW, thats how it oscillate. We have connected a Buzzer to OUT pin, so that it produce
beep sound, when 555 is high. We can control the oscillation frequency of the alarm by
adjusting the value of R2 and/or capacitor C.

Components
555 Timer IC
NPN Transistor BC547
Thermistor (10K)
Resistors (1K, 100K, 4.7K)
Variable resistor (1M)
Capacitor (10uF)
Buzzer and Battery (9v)

Circuit Diagram and Explanation

You can see the circuit diagram of fire alarm in above figure. When there is no FIRE,
thermistor remains at 10k ohm. And transistor remains at ON state because there is
sufficient voltage across the base-emitter of transistor, which makes it ON. When the
Transistor is ON, Pin 4 (RESET) is connected to the Ground, and when Reset pin is
Grounded, 555 IC doesn’t operate.

Now when we start heating the Thermistor through Fire, its resistance starts to decrease,
and when its resistance decreases, the voltage at the base of Transistor starts to
decrease and when the voltage becomes less than the operating voltage (base-emitter
voltage VBE) of transistor, then transistor becomes OFF. And when transistor becomes
OFF, Reset pin of 555 timer IC, gets positive voltage through R3, and 555 IC starts to
work and buzzer beeps.

In transistor, usually 0.7v voltage is required across the Base and Emitter, to turn it ON.
So we have to carefully adjust the value of Variable resistance RV1 and Thermistor, to
make the circuit work properly. To do this remove the thermistor and let RV1 be the
grounded, now adjust the value of RV1 to that point, where even slight turning of the RV1
starts the Buzzer. Means from this point, if we decrease the resistance, even very little,
Buzzer starts to beep. Now at this point, connect the thermistor again.

We should also note that we can also build a Fire alarm circuit, using DR25
germanium diode, as it works as heat sensor. When DR25 germanium diode is
connected in reverse bias, it has a very high reverse resistance and it only conducts at
more than 70 degree of room temperature.
 IC ;
An integrated circuit (IC), sometimes called a chip or microchip, is a semiconductor wafer on
which thousands or millions of tiny resistors, capacitors, and transistors are fabricated.
An IC can function as an amplifier, oscillator, timer, counter, computer memory, or
microprocessor

Thermistor;
A thermistor is a component that has a resistance that changes with temperature.
There are two types ofthermistor, those with a resistance that increase with temperature
(Positive Temperature Coefficient – PTC) and those with a resistance that falls with temperature
(Negative Temperature Coefficient – NTC).

There are two types of thermistors: Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) and Positive
Temperature Coefficient (PTC). With an NTC thermistor, when the temperature increases,
resistance decreases. Conversely, when temperature decreases, resistance increases. This
type of thermistor is used the most
Transistor;
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electronic signals and
electrical power. It is composed of semiconductor material usually with at least three terminals
for connection to an external circuit.
Tiny solid-state semiconductor device that can regulate electric current flowing through
it, and whose development launched the electronic age. Commonly made of germanium or
silicon layers, a transistor requires very little current to operate and, thus, releases very little
heat. Depending upon its configuration, it can be utilized in several ways, such as an amplifier,
oscillator,rectifier.

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