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Wednesday, 13 February 2013

NE555 Voltage Doubler

Here's a cheaper-to-build alternative for MAX1044/ICL7660 voltage doubler charge pump. According to the documentation, this puppy is capable of 30mA of output current, so it'll be enough for any stompbox use. Circuit isn't as small, as using NE555 timer chip will need couple of resistors and caps to get the job done. Still, simple and small enough.


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30 comments:

  1. Jishnu Dasgupta14 February 2013 at 14:27

    Are the NE555 and LM555 chips interchangeable?

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    Replies
    1. mirosol14 February 2013 at 16:17

      Same circuit, different manufacturer. First listed feature from the LM555 datasheet:
      -Direct replacement for SE555/NE555
      http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/rcem/~ahogan/327/LM555.pdf
      +m

      Delete
  2. Ana Konda26 March 2013 at 07:19

    Is this any noisier than the other pumps?

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    Replies
    1. mirosol26 March 2013 at 11:51

      Shouldn't be. But i wouldn't know as i haven't built one yet...
      +m

      Delete
    2. Ana Konda26 March 2013 at 13:07

      Well i'll let you know later

      Delete
  3. Unknown28 March 2013 at 17:26

    I'm building a delay that requires ~35mA at 18v. Could two of these be put in parallel if higher current is required?

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    Replies
    1. mirosol28 March 2013 at 18:14

      I have no idea if that would work. Sorry..
      +m

      Delete
  4. Alltrax7411 May 2013 at 06:47

    Can i use this doubler with a 9v battery or only with a power supply ?

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  5. HGE Contraptions21 May 2013 at 07:18

    would this work with 12V to give out 24v? how many mA?

    thanks

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    Replies
    1. giudis15 April 2015 at 17:25

      http://www.eleccircuit.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/doubler-voltage-12vdc-to-24vdc-with-ne555.jpg

      Delete
  6. jokersmile322 June 2013 at 06:11

    Has anyone verified this?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Unknown18 July 2013 at 00:47

    Verified. w/ a 9v power supply reading at 10.4v I ended up with 20.5v at the output. Very low noise also... I ran out of DC jacks and had to wire the output directly into an OCD clone to test out in circuit but I don't see it having any affect on noise going through the jack to jack route. I recommend this one to the ICL7660 pumps as its the same quality at a fraction of the cost.....I got my NE555 stock for $0.14 a piece.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Unknown5 November 2013 at 20:07

    Hello,
    is there a compact way to apply a voltage doubler and an inverter to get +/- 18V (for an EHX equalizer) from a +9V power supply? thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Eric Evans20 December 2013 at 21:27

    Would this pump fit into a altoids tin or something of similar size with 2x 2.1mm jacks?

    I'd love to stick this into something crazy small to velcro it to the under side of one of my pedal board rails.

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  10. Anonymous5 February 2014 at 06:22

    Hi everyone
    i have build this charge pump twice and it dose not worked and it just puts out 9v
    Any ideas
    tnx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mojo3215 February 2014 at 21:11

      Check your layout and wire connections. The 9v rail is right next to the 18V rail, so be sure you grabbed the right rail.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6 February 2014 at 01:51

      i have checked the board many times and cant find anything wrong with it even went between the cooper strips with a knife to make sure there is no connection between any of them.i have build many pedals and i don't get why this one is not working
      tnx anyway

      Delete
    3. mike6 March 2014 at 05:53

      I've built this pump succesfully, getting up to 24 volts out of the output....the layout is def verified...id check usuals, capacitors, resistors, polarity of caps and in/out plugs, track cuts/bridges.....if you can host pics of your build ill take a look and see if anything looks out of the normal....hope it works out for you


      -Adam

      Delete
    4. tinkercreak6 March 2014 at 15:53

      mike

      This is gonna sound dumb, but on my first charge pump build, I was only getting 9v on the out. Turns out I didn't have the ground connected while testing. When I grounded it properly, out came the 18v. Just throwing that out just in case....

      Delete
    5. tinkercreak6 March 2014 at 20:51

      sorry - actually meant that comment directed to strat...

      Delete
  11. Unknown5 August 2014 at 19:58

    Does anyone have the Schematic? I do like!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Jesse3 October 2014 at 21:15

    This might be a silly question but... Is it possible to incorporate a sag pot on this? I'm looking for something similar to Beavis Audio's Devolt (or whatever it's called), but I'd love to be able to start at 18v for a couple pedals. I can definitely just add the sag after this circuit, but I was wondering if one of the resistors could just be replaced with a pot to keep the size down as I might have a few of these on my board. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown10 April 2017 at 19:12

      I added a 1M pot on the end, lugs 2/3 linked for the input, with lug 1 being the output. Got my 18 variable down to 9, you could use 2 meg pot to take it down to about 4-5v.

      Delete
  13. giudis13 November 2014 at 21:19

    I'd like to power a pedal to 18 volts maximum (an univibe); is this charge pump ok for this? I've red that arrives to 24 volts....can I get down this value in any way?
    thanks friends! :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. DasWafflestomper26 February 2015 at 15:24

    What an amazing and useful site. IvIark deserves a tech Grammy.

    QUESTION ABOUT HIGH-PITCHED WHINE.

    I have built three of these voltage doublers. Two were fine; the third one is doing that high-pitched-whine thing. Only happens when I switch to 18v - I have the doubler on a DPDT. Everything about the build, and the pedal it's in, is essentially the same as the last two. I've tried: replacing the 555; going over all soldering, channels, etc; adding decoupling cap and resistor at the positive input, moving the whole unit around.... nothing changes it. The incoming power supply is a One-Spot, and I've used two other adapters, not daisy-chained. The voltage out is correct -- around 17v or a bit higher. Used 1N4001 diodes.

    Is there any other possible fix or should I toss it into the Box Of Inexplicable Weirdness?

    ReplyDelete
  15. chumbox 20 January 2016 at 13:26

    Hey All

    Not to dig up an old layout but does anyone know where the original schematic for this is? I have searched anywhere I can think of (incl. other forums) and checked google images and cannot seem to find an exact match. I have found similar but not one with these parts values. Might be a stretch I know. It appears to be the one Miro posted a while back with different values... is this correct? :)

    http://www.eleccircuit.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/doubler-voltage-12vdc-to-24vdc-with-ne555.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ben4 June 2018 at 19:20

    I would like to resurrect this one a bit. I put this on a breadboard and love the results. No whine so far in my audio path. I also put two 1n caps in series and doubled the frequency. Should this be a problem? I'm also trying to keep the big electrolytic cap sizes down. I'm using a 100uf 25v for the main 9v supply. Can I lower the 220uf caps any? I figure I should run the 220u between 18v and ground at 35v, but can I lower it to 100u as well? The one off pin 3 is the cap being charged by the square wave out of the timer, correct? Can I lower that to 100u, too? I'm going to try modifying this to run closer to 27v. I see a schematic that multiplies the supply to approximate 3 times the original voltage. It uses much smaller electrolytics (10uf), but I assume the aren't considering audio power supply applications.

    Thoughts?

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  17. Zaraki133719 March 2021 at 11:55

    Cqn i use this instead of max1044

    ReplyDelete