Flexible 555 LED Pulsing (Breathing) Circuit

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Flexible 555 LED Pulsing (Breathing) Circuit

Author
Giorgos Lazaridis
December 28, 2011

The circuit on breadboard for prototyping

Some time ago i uploaded a breathing LED circuit with the 555 timer chip. It became very popular and i received many comments and emails with people that made this circuit and worked fine, as well as comments with people that had troubles converting it to operate at 12 volts supply. It was designed to operate with 5 volts, because i plan to use it for a future PC mod. Since the PC power supply has 5 volts output, and since the LEDs that i plan to use require 3.8 volts to operate, choosing 5 volts for supply was the best choice to minimize power dissipation on the transistor.

Converting the original circuit to operate at 12 volts is not a big deal, but it requires some transistor knowledge. The only parts that should be changed were the biasing resistors R4 and R5. But i decided to take it one step further. I decided to make a more flexible breathing circuit. The new version as 2 more functions: It has an adjustable voltage oscillation amplitude, and an adjustable output DC offset. What this means is that it can be easily adjusted to operate with different LEDs. If for example the load is a 12V LED strip with operating voltage range 8 to 12 volts, the circuit can be adjusted to provide exactly this: 8 to 12 volts output. Similarly, it can be adjusted to operate with a high brightness LED that has voltage range from 2.4 to 3.8 volts.

The Circuit

Here is the schematic circuit for the new version:

The circuit (click to enlarge)

You can set the fade-in and fade-out durations with these potentiometers

You can set the output voltage amplitude and the output DC offset with these potentiometers.

You may need to add a heatsink to the power transistor.

As you may notice, the left portion of the circuit, the 555 astable multivariate - has not been changed. The functionality is exactly the same as described in the previous article. The two variable resistors R2 and R3 are used to set the fade-in and fade out time.

From the same position (across C1) i get the capacitor's voltage. This is the waveform that we will work with. I like the charging characteristic of the capacitor because it provides a more "natural" breathing effect. Instead, you may wanna use a triangular waveform as an input, but I've test it already and rejected it immediately.

Instead of using a diode to couple the 2 circuit parts, i use a large electrolytic capacitor. That is because i want to have a pure AC waveform to feed the first transistor amplifier. So, C2 is a coupling capacitor which cuts-off all DC currents form the 555 timer. A large resistor (R4) is used to minimize the effect of the transistor amplifier to the 555 operation.

The potentiometer R7 is the first new feature added to the circuit. This is the amplitude control potentiometer. This potentiometer changes the voltage amplitude that will be fed into the base of the transistor amplifier, and thus it controls the output signal amplitude. It works exactly as the volume control on an audio amplifier: the bigger the input signal, the bigger the output signal.

The first amplifier (T1) is a common emitter with fixed bias. R8 is the base resistor which sets the operation point, and R5 is the collector resistor which sets the amplification gain. The output of the amplifier is again coupled though a large electrolytic capacitor (C3). At the output of this coupling capacitor we have an AC signal oscillating around gnd, with the final amplitude that will be fed into the base of the second amplifier. Since the LEDs operate with voltages above 0V, we need to shift this oscillation to the proper position.

Suppose for example that we want to power an LED that operates from 2.4 to 3.8 volts. This means that the output oscillation amplitude should be 1.4 volts (3.3-2.4). At the output of C3 we will have an oscillation from -0.7 to +0.7 volts. So we need to shift this oscillation 3.1 volts. This is achieved by adding a DC offset. The potentiometer R6 does exactly this. It is connected as a voltage divider, and provides a DC voltage from 0 to 12 volts. This voltage is then injected at the AC voltage. The result is the required oscillation.

Finally, the signal is fed into an emitter follower amplifier (T2) to increase the current. I chose a power darlington pair transistor for this stage, so that it can provide sufficient current for the LEDs, and also to be able to dissipate enough power.

There is something that you should notice here: An emitter follower amplifier can provide maximum current, but the maximum voltage will be about 0.7 volts less than the supply voltage. What this means is that, if you plan to control a 12V LED strip (this is what most people told me that want to use), you will need at least 12.7 volts as supply to have full brightness.

ONE LAST THING!!! BE CAREFUL! As you see, i have no limiting resistor for the LEDs. You need to add a limiting resistor if required, otherwise bot the LEDs and the transistor may be damaged. I chose not to add a resistor, since the circuit can provide exactly the voltage required for the LEDs. If you set the circuit correctly, then you do not need to add any resistor. This is one good advantaged if you plan to use high power LEDs, since a high power LED would require a high wattage resistor. But make sure that you have set the circuit properly before connecting your expensive LED!

Adjusting the circuit

It is very important to correctly adjust the circuit before you connect the LED. The adjustment has to do with the output voltage amplitude and DC offset. The maximum voltage of the oscillation must NOT exceed the maximum forward voltage (Vf) of the LED. As for the minimum oscillation voltage, this can be adjusted to any value.

If the LED forward voltage is the same as the circuit's supply then you can adjust the circuit more freely. But if the supply is much higher than the LED's voltage, you must follow these steps. First, you need to have a volt meter. It will be easier if the voltmeter has analog display.

Step 1:

Connect the voltmeter at the output of the circuit (pads LED+ and LED-).

Step 2:

Adjust the 555 to maximum fade-in and fade out duration, by turning the potentiometers R2 and R3 to maximum resistance

Step 3:

Turn the potentiometers R6 and R7 to the middle. The volt meter must now show readings. Notice that the readings are not stable, the voltage must increase and decrease slowly.

Step 4:

Now you need to decide what will be the voltage oscillation. You may wanna start with a typical 2 volts oscillation for a simple 3.2 or 3.8 Volts LED, or 4 volts oscillation for a 12 Volts LED strip. Turn the potentiometer R7 to adjust this oscillation. The maximum voltage shown on your volt-meter minus the minimum voltage is the oscillation amplitude. So, if for example you want to have 4 volts oscillation and the minimum voltage shown on the voltmeter is 4 volts, then turn the R7 slowly until the maximum voltage becomes 8 volts (8-4=4).

Step 5:

Now you need to adjust the DC offset. Slowly turn the potentiometer R6 until the maximum voltage of the oscillation becomes equal to the forward voltage of the LED. Do not rush finishing this step. Watch the multimeter for one minute or so and make sure that the voltage does NOT exceed the forward voltage of the LED.

If you finish all the previous steps successfully, you can connect the LED. Since the transistor has an internal collector resistance, you may wanna repeat step 5. That is because if the LED draws too much current, there will be a high voltage drop across V_CE.

Good Luck.


This is the output when the circuit operates as a flasher	The fade-in is faster than the fade out	The fade in is much slower than the fade out.


No DC offset added - The oscillation is around the zero line.	Added 4 volts DC offset - The oscillation is from 2 to 6 Volts	The amplitude is decreased. It is less than 2 volts	The amplitude is increased. It is about 11 volts

Bill Of Materials [BOM]


Resistors
R1	Resistor 100 Ohm 1/4 Watt 5% Carbon Film
R2	Potentiometer 10 KOhm Linear Rotary 1/2W
R3	Potentiometer 10 KOhm Linear Rotary 1/2W
R4	Resistor 82 KOhm 1/4 Watt 5% Carbon Film
R5	Resistor 1 KOhm 1/4 Watt 5% Carbon Film
R6	Potentiometer 100 KOhm Linear Rotary 1/2W
R7	Potentiometer 470 KOhm Linear Rotary 1/2W
R8	Resistor 470 KOhm 1/4 Watt 5% Carbon Film
R9	Resistor 1 KOhm 1/4 Watt 5% Carbon Film
R10	Resistor 100 KOhm 1/4 Watt 5% Carbon Film

Capacitors
C1	Electrolytic Capacitor 470 uF 16 Volts
C2	Electrolytic Capacitor 470 uF 16 Volts
C3	Electrolytic Capacitor 470 uF 16 Volts

Diodes
D1	1N4148 Switching Diode

Transistors
T1	BC338 NPN Silicon AF Transistors
T2	TIP142 Complementary Silicon Power Darlington Transistor

Integrated Circuits
IC1	555 Timer

Comments

At 21 May 2012, 8:50:52 user Giorgos Lazaridis wrote: [reply @ Giorgos Lazaridis]

@BARIS DOGAN This circuit is flexible so the output can vary by the potentiometer. You do not need to go strictly 82 Ohms, because you can simply supply less voltage to the LEDs. I would say 47 Ohms is pretty much fine, the reason for this resistor is for balancing, not really limiting.

At 21 May 2012, 8:08:29 user BARIS DOGAN wrote: [reply @ BARIS DOGAN]

At 21 May 2012, 7:24:49 user Giorgos Lazaridis wrote: [reply @ Giorgos Lazaridis]

At 21 May 2012, 5:04:41 user BARIS DOGAN wrote: [reply @ BARIS DOGAN]

At 29 March 2012, 22:40:24 user Scott wrote: [reply @ Scott]

At 21 March 2012, 13:49:49 user werner wrote: [reply @ werner]

At 21 March 2012, 13:30:33 user Giorgos Lazaridis wrote: [reply @ Giorgos Lazaridis]

@werner 3w LED will have probably 1A of current (about) so the dissipation on the transistor will be huge. If this does not bother you, it will work.

At 21 March 2012, 8:14:08 user werner wrote: [reply @ werner]

At 4 February 2012, 2:52:00 user Giorgos Lazaridis wrote: [reply @ Giorgos Lazaridis]

@Brian Yes sure, it will work

At 3 February 2012, 17:04:58 user Brian wrote: [reply @ Brian]

At 3 February 2012, 15:37:54 user Giorgos Lazaridis wrote: [reply @ Giorgos Lazaridis]

@Brian from local market, ebay, internet... different sources every time. i have a stock of parts now, and i do not really remember.

At 2 February 2012, 16:51:29 user Brian wrote: [reply @ Brian]

At 22 January 2012, 17:26:33 user Kammenos wrote: [reply @ Kammenos]

@Usman better post photos in the forum. we cannot help you otherwise.

At 16 January 2012, 16:14:44 user Usman wrote: [reply @ Usman]

I CAN INCREASE THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE LED BUT I CANNOT FADE IN AND FADE OUT WHAT WILL BE THE MISTAKE PLZ LET ME KNOW ASAP

At 15 January 2012, 3:01:08 user Kammenos wrote: [reply @ Kammenos]

@Usman first, have you tried to control the LED brightness with R6? Also, what LED do you use (forward voltage) and what is your power supply voltage?

At 14 January 2012, 17:54:08 user Usman wrote: [reply @ Usman]

At 10 January 2012, 13:14:23 user Kammenos wrote: [reply @ Kammenos]

@Squigly yes indeed. one is decoupling capacitor for the supply, you may need to add one or you may not, depends on your power supply.

At 10 January 2012, 12:57:40 user Squigly wrote: [reply @ Squigly]