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Home » 555 Pulse Generator Li-ion Battery Charger Circuit

555 Pulse Generator Li-ion Battery Charger Circuit

Last updated on 3 July 2026 by Admin-Lavi Leave a Comment

Charging a Li-ion battery does not need big smart charger, but we can do it with one small 555 timer chip; also this 555 Pulse Generator Li-ion Battery Charger Circuit makes fast little pulses that charge the cell gentle and safe.

Anyone can build this circuit with very few parts and with very low cost, as its a perfect beginner project to learn battery charging in simple way.

Circuit Working:

555 Pulse Generator Li-ion Battery Charger Circuit Diagram

Parts List:

ComponentsValuesQuantity
Resistors (All resistors are 1/4 watt)1.2k, 10k, 1k, 100Ω1 each
CapacitorsCeramic 0.1uF, 0.01uF1 each
SemiconductorsIC 555 Timer1
Standard LED any 5mm1
Diode 1N5819 Schottky1
Li-ion Battery 3.7V 700mA1
Power Supply 12V DC1

The above circuit diagram shows IC 555 runs in astable multivibrator mode, it make square wave around 680 Hz and output pin 3 give pulse around 10 volt peak to peak.

Then pulse go through diode D1 1N5819 and this diode prevent battery discharge back to circuit.

Now resistor R3 limit charging current and R4 work like extra safety resistor and then LED show charging pulse activity.

After that, capacitor C1 is a timing capacitor for frequency and capacitor C2 is a filter capacitor for stable 555 operation; finally battery get small fast pulses and this help charge slowly and safe.

Formulas with Calculations:

Formulas for IC 555 astable mode:

Frequency f = 1.44 / ((R1 + 2R2) x C1)

Duty cycle approx = (R1 + R2) / (R1 + 2R2)

Use values:

  • R1 is 1.2k
  • R2 is 10k
  • C1 is 0.1uF

Calculate frequency:

f = 1.44 / ((1200 + 2 x 10000) x 0.0000001)
f = 1.44 / ((1200 + 20000) x 0.0000001)
f = 1.44 / (21200 x 0.0000001)
f = 1.44 / 0.00212
f = 679 Hz

So frequency is about 680 Hz.

How to Build:

To build a 555 Pulse Generator Li-ion Battery Charger Circuit follow the below connection steps:

  • First, take all the parts as shown in circuit diagram.
  • Next, pin 1 go to ground.
  • Then, pin 2 receives the RC network input from R2 and C1.
  • After that, pin 3 is output pulse go to junction of resistor R3, LED and diode D1.
  • Now pin 4 go to Vcc 12V.
  • Further, pin 5 connect to small capacitor 0.01uF C2 to ground.
  • Pin 6 connect to resistors R1, R2 junction and C1 capacitor.
  • Also, pin 7 go to R1 and then goes to Vcc and then pin 8 go to Vcc 12V too.
  • Finally, resistor R4 connect from cathode of diode D1 and battery positive and battery negative go to ground.

Conclusion:

Overall, this 555 Pulse Generator Li-ion Battery Charger Circuit is for learning, as it give slow safe charge using pulse; but it is not for fast charging.

Moreover, this low cost circuit is easy to build and works well for charging a small single-cell battery.

Filed Under: 555 Timer Projects, Battery Charger Circuits, Mini Projects, Power Supply Circuits, Timer Circuits

About Admin-Lavi

Lavi is a B.Tech electronics engineer with a passion for designing new electronic circuits. Do you have questions regarding the circuit diagrams presented on this blog? Feel free to comment and solve your queries with quick replies

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