Amplification 555 timer circuit output current

paaghi said:

I'm going to design a 555 timer circuit in order to make an LED blinking at the frequency of about 100Hz and 10% duty cycle. But the problem is that the 555 IC provide a low output current (a few hundreds mA) while my LED is a high power LED (>1A). I think one solution is using an SSR (Solid State Relay) but they seems expensive for my project (around 40 bucks I think). Any other idea? (I'm a newbie to electronic stuff!)

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ericgibbs said:

hi,
What supply voltage is powering the 555 and Power LED.?

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paaghi said:

I think the most high power LEDs are 12V (I haven't bought the LED yet) and my power supply can supply up to 12V.

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ericgibbs said:

hi,
A supply of 12V to the 555 should enable you switch a N MOSFET transistor with the output of the 555 OK.

Use a N MOSFET that has a Drain current of approx 3 Amps and a Gate ON voltage of approx 5V.

When you know the current required by the LED you can calculate the series resistor.

Let us know the LED specification.

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paaghi said:

I remember I've seen 12Volt-3Watt LEDs. Let's say if I (for example) connect 6 LEDs in parallel, my maximum LEDs current would be 1.5A (6*3/12=1.5).
I would appreciate it very much if you tell me what transistor I need to buy exactly, and lead me to a link for the schematic circuit.
Thank you.

*Update: I found this. Do you approve it?

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