Introduction: DIY 555 Timer Blinky Toy!
As a simple middle school student, I end up getting entertained very easily. If a burp comes out of someone, I'm entertained. Same with many other people, the simplest of things will entertain. I decided to make a 555 blinky inside a little altoids smalls. I turned it on, and I just stared at it for 10 minutes. It is a fun beginners project, so if you are a beginner in the world of electronics, try this out. It is a pretty fun project, but you really need to be careful. Make sure you know where the front of the IC is, which side of the capacitor is + and which is -... So, if you think you want to do this, read on!
Attachments
Step 1: Grab Some Parts!
What you will need is:
- 555 IC timer
-22uF capacitor
-10K resistor
-33k resistors (2X)
-Wire
-LED
-LED bezel
-Soldering Iron
-Solder
You can get all of the components at Tayda Electronics website
Also, get some wire strippers and some wire cutters.
Step 2: Solder in Your 555 IC
This is simple, all you have to do is solder in the 555 IC. Put it in the middle of a PCB/Perf board. If you decide to just do tip-to-tip wiring, it will be MUCH HARDER.
Step 3: Solder Your Capacitor
Take your capacitor and solder it to pin 1 and pin 2. Google up a pinout of a 555 timer. Pin 1 is ground, so put your negative side in that. Positive goes to pin 2.
Step 4: Connect Pin 2 to Pin 6.
Take some wire and hook pin 2 to pin 6. Easy, right?
Step 5: Connect Pin 4 to Pin 8
Take some more wire, and solder pin 4 to pin 8.
Step 6: Solder the 10K Resistor
Solder pin 6 to pin 7. Use a 10K resistor or really any resistor.
Step 7: Solder Pin 7 to Pin 8 With a Resistor.
Take any resistor and solder it to pin 8 and pin 7. Make sure you have another of that resistor, you will need an extra later on...
Step 8: Solder Your LED to Pin 3
Take an LED you have lying around, and solder the positive to pin 3... Don't solder your negative yet.
Step 9: Solder Resistor to the Negative Input of LED
Remember the resistor I told you to keep a hold of before? Well, we're using it now. Take that out and solder it to pin 1 and to the - end of the LED.
Step 10: Give Power to This Circuit!
Take your 9V battery clip and solder the black wire to pin 1.
Step 11: Wire Everything Up to the IC
Before anything else, make sure your connections are hooked up to the IC.
Step 12: The Switch
Solder your red wire of the clip that hooks up to your battery to a switch so you can control your current. Solder the wire going from the switch to pin 8.
Step 13: Flip the Switch!
Flip the switch and (Hopefully), the LED will blink!
