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555 Timer LED Flasher

by ThatCaliforniaGuy on December 18, 2011

Table of Contents

555 Timer LED Flasher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intro: 555 Timer LED Flasher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

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http://www.instructables.com/id/555-Timer-LED-Flasher/
 Author:ThatCaliforniaGuy
Hi! I'm Dave, and I've lived in China for about three years now. As my username suggests, I'm from California, so naturally, I miss the sunshine, the beaches,
and the crisp evening air. In my spare time, I like to catch up on anything Star Wars-related and read zany, offbeat stories (Flatland, anyone?). Anyways, I'm
here on Instructables because I've seen you guys do some really amazing things, not only on this site but also in Make Magazine and on Sparkfun.com. I
want to experience what it's like being in the middle of a DIY revolution, interacting with a community of exceptionally awesome people. Thank you all, and
keep on being awesome!

Intro: 555 Timer LED Flasher

The first project I ever built was a light that blinked on and off. It took nine parts and a couple of wires. Nice and easy.

Using some resistors and capacitors, I basically configured a 555 timer chip to act as an oscillator (fancy term for something that generates electrical pulses at regular
intervals). I used the pulses to drive an LED, which turned on whenever there was a pulse and turned off whenever there wasn't a pulse (thus the blinking action). In
technical terms, this circuit is called an "astable multivibrator."

This is a great project to start off with if you're thinking about doing electronics. Here's what you'll need:

-U1: 555 Timer IC

-R1: 1 megohm potentiometer
-R2: 47 kilohm resistor
-R3: 330 ohm resistor
-C1: 1 µF electrolytic capacitor
-C2: 0.1 µF (100nF) disc capacitor
-LED: 5mm red LED
-9V battery
-Solderless breadboard

Just assemble the circuit according to the attached schematic diagram (555 LED flasher.pdf), and you're set. For a nice explanation of how this actually works, visit the
Electronics Club's 555 Timer page here .

Note: A month ago, I made an improvement to my original design that allows me to drive two LEDs instead of just one. Basically, the LEDs are connected so that
whenever there is a pulse from the 555 timer, the red LED turns on and the green LED turns off, and whenever there isn't a pulse, the green LED turns on and the red
LED turns off. I have included the corresponding circuit diagram (LED Flasher 2) with this Instructable.

Image Notes
1. Instead of a 9V battery, I used two 3V coin cells in series (the 555 timer chip
accepts voltages from 5V to 15V).

File Downloads

555 LED flasher.pdf (232 KB)

[NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to '555 LED flasher.pdf']

LED Flasher 2.pdf (272 KB)

[NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'LED Flasher 2.pdf']

http://www.instructables.com/id/555-Timer-LED-Flasher/
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http://www.instructables.com/id/555-Timer-LED-Flasher/