is the output of a bipolar 555 large enough to drive a mosfet

[user1453]

as the title suggests, is the output of a 555 bipolar timer great enough to drive an irf740 n power mosfet.

the application is for a coil gun

do I need to addd an additional gate drive circuit?

 

[audioguru]

The IRF740 and most other Mosfets are spec'd to turn on fully with 10V on the gate. A 555 will give an output of 10V when its supply is 11.3V. Use a 12V supply and it will be fine.

An IRF740 is rated for a very high 400V but fairly low current. Is it useful to drive a coil?

 

[Tarsil]

About the curent.....no problem. About the voltage ...the treshold is like 4V max but at 10V RDS(on) is quite small so if u use like 12V for powering the 555...it's the best sol.

 

[user1453]

pulse rated current is 40A

 

[Styx]

watch out for the output sourcing capability of the 555 timer w.r.t. how fast you want to switch the FET

 

[audioguru]

pulse rated current is 40A

That is the current when a very high supply voltage is used. Its minimum current is only 10A at lower voltages. Its on-resistance is high.
An ordinary IRF540 has a max on-resistance 10 times lower.

You can't buy exactly what you need, so plan on the worst case then all your circuits will work.

 

[user1453]

however the voltage rating is 1/3rd of the irf740, this would bring the energy stored in the cap bank from 450j to 50j

 

[audioguru]

Does this powerful "coil gun" launch small cars?

 

[user1453]

no, but small bits of steel at high speed