555 Timer basic & Creative

Projects Notebook by Mike Mo

4/7/2024
1. Introduction
Around 1 billion 555 timers IC are made every year, a chip first
made in 1971by Signetics. 53 years passed, the 555 Timer IC is one
of the most versatile and widely used integrated circuits in
electronics. Developed by Hans R. Camenzind in 1971, the 555
Timer IC has been employed in countless applications ranging from
timers and oscillators to pulse generators and voltage-controlled
oscillators. Its simplicity, flexibility, and reliability make it a popular
choice among hobbyists, students, and professionals alike.

History of 555 timer chip has easily outlasted Signetics by several

decades. Philips Semiconductors (which was spun off and renamed
NXP in 2006) acquired Signetics in 1975 and eventually retired the
brand.including Texas Instruments, Intersil, Maxim, Avago, Exar,
Fairchild, NXP, and STMicroelectronics.

For the 555 to function it relies on both analogue and digital

electronic techniques, but if we consider its output only, it can be
thought of as a digital device.

In this notebook, we will explore the basic functionality of the 555

Timer IC, its pinout, common operating modes, and non-ordinary
application circuits.

2. Pinout

.
. The 555 Timer IC is typically available in an 8-pin DIP (Dual Inline
Package). Here's the pinout of the 555 Timer IC:
.
.
 Pin 1 (Ground):
Connects to the 0v power supply.

Pin 2 (Trigger):
Detects 1/3 of rail voltage to make output HIGH. Pin 2 has control over pin 6. If pin 2 is
LOW, and pin 6 LOW, output goes and stays HIGH. If pin 6 HIGH, and pin 2 goes LOW,
output goes LOW while pin 2 LOW. This pin has a very high impedance (about 10M) and will
trigger with about 1uA.

Pin 3 (Output):
(Pins 3 and 7 are "in phase.") Goes HIGH (about 2v less than rail) and LOW (about 0.5v less
than 0v) and will deliver up to 200mA for bipolar 555.

Pin 4 (Reset):
Internally connected HIGH via 100k. Must be taken below 0.8v to reset the chip.

Pin 5 (Control):
A voltage applied to this pin will vary the timing of the RC network (drastically).

Pin 6 (Threshold):
Detects 2/3 of rail voltage to make output LOW only if pin 2 is HIGH. This pin has a very
high impedance (about 10M) and will trigger with about 0.2uA.

Pin 7 (Discharge):
Goes LOW when pin 6 detects 2/3 rail voltage but pin 2 must be HIGH. If pin 2 is HIGH, pin
6 can be HIGH or LOW and pin 7 remains LOW. Goes OPEN (HIGH) and stays HIGH when pin
2 detects 1/3 rail voltage (even as a LOW pulse) when pin 6 is LOW. (Pins 7 and 3 are "in
phase.") Pin 7 is equal to pin 3 but pin 7 does not go high - it goes OPEN. But it goes LOW
and will sink about 200mA.

Pin 8 (Supply):
Connects to the positive power supply (Vs). This can be any voltage between 4.5V and 15V
DC, but is commonly 5V DC when working with digital ICs.
.
3. Inside the 555 Timer
You may wonder what is inside the 555 timer chip or what makes it work. Well, the 555
timer chip an Intergrated Circuit (IC) and therefore it contains a miniturized circuit
surrounded by silicon. Each of the pins is connected to the circuit which consists of over 24
bipolar transistors, 2 diodes and 15 resistors.
The CMOS version also shown below:

The illustration below shows the functional block diagram of the 555 timer IC.
Do you notice the three R resistors (Valued 5k each) above? This is how the chip got it's
name.

4. Operating Modes
The 555 Timer IC, with supply voltage 4.5V-12V (for CMOS 7555 is
3V-15V), can operate in three different modes: monostable,
astable, and bistable.

Astable/Oscillator mode

An Astable Circuit has no stable state - hence the name "astable". The output continually
switches state (oscillating) between high and low without without any intervention from the
user, called a 'square' wave. This type of circuit could be used to give a mechanism
intermittent motion by switching a motor on and off at regular intervals. It can also be used
to flash lamps and LEDs, and is useful as a 'clock' pulse for other digital ICs and circuits.

Formulas for a 555 timer in Asatle/oscillator mode:

Frequency: f=1.44/((R1+2*R2)*C),
Duty cycle: D=(R1+R2)/(R1+2*R2)*100%

Monostable mode

A Monostable Circuit produces one pulse of a set length in response to a trigger input such
as a push button. The output of the circuit stays in the low state until there is a trigger
input, hence the name "monostable" meaning "one stable state". his type of circuit is ideal
for use in a "push to operate" system for a model displayed at exhibitions. A visitor can
push a button to start a model's mechanism moving, and the mechanism will automatically
switch off after a set time.

The Formula for the output pulse with of a 555 timer

T=1.44/-1.1 R x C

Bistable Mode (or Schmitt Trigger)

A Bistable Mode or what is sometimes called a Schmitt Trigger, has two stable states, high
and low. Taking the Trigger input low makes the output of the circuit go into the high state.
Taking the Reset input low makes the output of the circuit go into the low state. This type
of circuit is ideal for use in an automated model railway system where the train is required
to run back and forth over the same piece of track. A push button (or reed switch with a
magnet on the underside of the train) would be placed at each end of the track so that
when one is hit by the train, it will either trigger or reset the bistable. The output of the 555
would control a DPDT relay which would be wired as a reversing switch to reverse the
direction of current to the track, thereby reversing the direction of the train. No formula to
calculate it as it is either high or low state by setting Trigger or Reset pin low.
5. The Output of a 555 Timer
The output (Pin 3) of the 555 can be in one of two states at any time, which means it is a
digital output. It can be connected directly to the inputs of other digital ICs, or it can control
other devices with the help of a few extra components. The first state is the 'low' state,
which is the voltage 0V at the power supply. The second state is the 'high' state, which is
the voltage Vcc at the power supply.

Sinking and Sourcing

When the Output goes low, current will flow through the device and switch it on. This is
called 'sinking' current because the current is sourced from Vs and flows through the
device and the 555 to 0V.

When the Output goes high, current will flow through the device and switch it on. This is
called 'sourcing' current because the current is sourced from the 555 and flows through the
device to 0V.

Sinking and sourcing can also be used together so that two devices can be alternately
switched on and off.

The device(s) could be anything that can be switched on and off, such as LEDs, lamps,
relays, motors or electromagnets. Unfortunately, these devices have to be connected to
the Output in different ways because the Output of the 555 can only source or sink a
current of up to 200mA. Make sure your power supply can provide enough current for both
the device and the 555, otherwise the timing of the 555 will be affected. The 7555 is a
CMOS version of the 555. It is exactly the same as the 555 but consumes less power. The
555 consumes 10mA, while the 7555 consumes 80uA (1/120th), but 7555 can only source
or sink a current of 10mA to100MA range, depends on supply voltage.

6. Common Mistakes When Using a 555 Timer

Here are some mistakes to avoid:

1. Pin 7 gets connected to the 0v rail via a transistor inside the chip during part of the
operation of the 555. If the pot is turned to very low resistance in the following circuit, a
high current will flow through the pot and it will be damaged:

2. The impedance of the 100u electrolytic will allow a very high current to flow and the chip
will get very hot. Use 10u maximum when using 8R speaker.

3. The reset pin (pin 4) is internally tied HIGH via approx 100k but it should not be left
floating as stray pulses may reset the chip.
4. Do not draw 555 circuits as shown in the following diagram. Keep to a standard layout so
the circuit is easy to follow.

5. Here's an example from the web. It takes a lot of time to work out what the circuit is
doing:

The aim it to lay-out a circuit so that it shows instantly what is happening. That's why
everything must be in recognised locations.

Here is the corrected circuit: From this diagram it is obvious the circuit is an oscillator (and
not a one-shot etc).
6. Don't use high value electrolytics and high resistances to produce long delays. The 555
is very unreliable with timing values above 5-10 minutes. The reason is simple. The
charging current for the electrolytic is between 1 - 3 microamp in the following diagram
(when the electro is beginning to charge) and drops to less than 1 microamp when the
electro is nearly charged.
If the leakage of the electro is 1 microamp, it will never fully charge and allow the 555 to
"time-out."

7. Do not connect a PNP to the output of a 555 as shown in the following diagram. Pin 3
does not rise high enough to turn off the transistor and the current taken by the circuit will
be excessive. Use an NPN driver.
7. Normal applications

555 timer’s three different modes: monostable, astable, and

bistable are well described in Walter Jung’s “IC Timer cookbook”or
Howard Berlin’s ”The 555 Timer Applications Sourcebook with
experiments” and many other authors, thus no need to repeat it.

8. 50 Creative applications
1. 555 as amplifier
2. Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO)
3. SCR Trigger.
4. Crystal Oscilltor using 555
5. Frequency to Voltage conveter
6. Missing Pulse Derector
7. Light Detector
8. Dark Detector
9. Debouncer
10. Timed Relay
11. Toy Organ
12. LED Flasher
13. Touch switch
14. Frequency counter/divider
15. Sine/Sawtooth/Triangle wave generator
16. Bike safety Light
17. Infared Transmitter
18. Negative Power supply at low wattage
19. Magnetic Music box
20. Capacitance measuring Instrument
21. Tacho Meter for Automobile
22. Temperature Tool
23. Continuity Tester
24. Battery Charging monitor
25. Auto burglary Alarm
26. Rain Alarm
27. Security Alarm
28. CW monitor
29. Dice Toy
30. Schmmit Trigger
31. Beat Bot Music Box/Toy
32. Metal Detector (based on VCO technology)
33. Small Induction Heater
34. Transistor Test Tool
35. Audio Logic Probe and Pulse Generator
36. Temperature Controlled Fan
37. Mosquito Repellant Device
38. Human Body Proximity Sensor
39. Sound triggered Timer
40. Live AC detector without touching
41. 555 DC Boost Converter (Raise 3.7V to 7.5V)
42. Push ON and Push OFF Switch using 555
43. Motion Detector Circuit using 555 Timer to Control AC Loads555
Simulating Two-tone Siren (Elonics covered project 44-46 )
44. Model Traffic Light simulator
45. Fastest Finger First for quizzes (搶答机)
46. Basic Electronic Code Locker using 555
47. 1 to 2 wire Telegraph (NB communications projec for 48 to 50)
48. Pulse Modulate Light Transmitt and receiver
49. Automatic Tone Burst

9. Index and Resources

Conclusion
The 555 Timer IC is an incredibly versatile component that can be
used in a wide range of electronic circuits. Its simplicity and ease of
use make it an ideal choice for both beginners and experienced
electronics enthusiasts. By understanding its basic operation and
modes of operation, you can leverage the 555 Timer IC to create
innovative and useful electronic projects.