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A 555 Timer IC TutorialPágina 1 de 21http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/gadgets/555.htm18/11/00 
©by Tony van Roon
 
T
he 555 timer IC was first introduced arround 1971 by the Signetics Corporation as theSE555/NE555 and was called "
The IC Time Machine
" and was also the very first and onlycommercial timer ic available. It provided circuit designers and hobby tinkerers with a relativelycheap, stable, and user-friendly integrated circuit for both monostable and astable applications.Since this device was first made commercially available, a myrad of novel and unique circuitshave been developed and presented in several trade, professional, and hobby publications. Thepast ten years some manufacturers stopped making these timers because of competition or otherreasons. Yet other companies, like NTE (a subdivision of Philips) picked up where some left off. 
T
his primer is about this fantastic timer which is after 30 years still very popular and used inmany schematics. Although these days the CMOS version of this IC, like the Motorola MC1455,is mostly used, the regular type is still available, however there have been many improvementsand variations in the circuitry. But all types are pin-for-pin plug compatible. Myself, every time Isee this 555 timer used in advanced and high-tech electronic circuits, I'm amazed. It is justincredible. 
I
n this tutorial I will show you what exactly the 555 timer is and how to properly use it byitself or in combination with other solid state devices without the requirement of an engineeringdegree. This timer uses a maze of transistors, diodes and resistors and for this complex reason Iwill use a more simplified (but accurate) block diagram to explain the internal organizations of the 555. So, lets start slowly and build it up from there.
The first type-number, in Table 1 on the left, represents thetype which was/is preferred for military applications whichhave somewhat improved electrical and thermalcharacteristics over their commercial counterparts, but alsoa bit more expensive, and usually metal-can or ceramiccasing. This is analogous to the 5400/7400 seriesconvention for TTL integrated circuits.
 
A 555 Timer IC TutorialPágina 2 de 21http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/gadgets/555.htm18/11/00 
T
he 555, in fig. 1 and fig. 2 above, come in two packages, either the round metal-can calledthe 'T' package or the more familiar 8-pin DIP 'V' package. About 20-years ago the metal-can typewas pretty much the standard (SE/NE types). The 556 timer is a dual 555 version and comes in a14-pin DIP package, the 558 is a quad version with four 555's also in a 14 pin DIP case.
 I 
nside the 555 timer, at  fig. 3, are the equivalent of over 20 transistors, 15resistors, and 2 diodes,depending of themanufacturer. Theequivalent circuit, in block diagram, providing the functions of control,triggering, level sensingor comparison, discharge,and power output. Someof the more attractive features of the 555 timer are: Supply voltagebetween 4.5 and 18 volt,supply current 3 to 6 mA,and a Rise/Fall time of 100 nSec. It can alsowithstand quite a bit of abuse.
T 
he Threshold current determine the maximumvalue of Ra + Rb. For 15volt operation themaximum total resistance for 
 R
(Ra +Rb) is 20 Mega-ohm.
T
he supply current, when the output is 'high', is typically 1 milli-amp (mA) or less. The initialmonostable timing accuracy is typically within 1% of its calculated value, and exhibits negligble(0.1%/V) drift with supply voltage. Thus longterm supply variations can be ignored, and thetemperature variation is only 50ppm/°C (0.005%/°C). 
A
ll IC timers rely upon an externalcapacitor to determine the off-on time
 
A 555 Timer IC TutorialPágina 3 de 21http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/gadgets/555.htm18/11/00intervals of the output pulses. As yourecall from your study of basic electronics,it takes a finite period of time for acapacitor (C) to charge or dischargethrough a resistor (R). Those times areclearly defined and can be calculated giventhe values of resistance and capacitance.
T
he basic RC charging circuit is shown infig. 4. Assume that the capacitor is initiallydischarged. When the switch is closed, thecapacitor begins to charge through theresistor. The voltage across the capacitorrises from zero up to the value of theapplied DC voltage. The charge curve forthe circuit is shown in fig. 6. The time thatit takes for the capacitor to charge to63.7% of the applied voltage is known asthe time constant (t). That time can becalculated with the simple expression:
t = R X C
A
ssume a resistor value of 1 MegaOhm and a capacitor value of 1uF (micro-Farad). The timeconstant in that case is:
t = 1,000,000 X 0.000001 = 1 second
 
A
ssume further that the applied voltage is 6 volts. That means that it will take one timeconstant for the voltage across the capacitor to reach 63.2% of the applied voltage. Therefore, thecapacitor charges to approximately 3.8 volts in one second.
Fig. 4-1, Change in the input pulse frequencyallows completion of the timing cycle. As a generalrule, the monostable 'ON' time is set approximately1/3 longer than the expected time betweentriggering pulses. Such a circuit is also known as a'Missing Pulse Detector'.
L
ooking at the curve in fig. 6. you can see that it takes approximately 5 complete timeconstants for the capacitor to charge to amost the applied voltage. It would take about 5 secondsfor the voltage on the capacitor to rise to approximately the full 6-volts.
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