Objective

The objective of the project is to design and develop Voltage doubler.

Introduction
Voltage doubler is the circuit where we get the twice of the input voltage, like if
we supply 5v voltage, we will get 10 volt at the output. Generally transformers are
there to step-up or step-down the voltage, but sometimes transformers are not
feasible because of their size and cost. So here is the quick, easy and practical
solution to double the voltage, using 555 timer IC.We can divide the circuit into
two parts, first part consist the 555 time IC in Astable mode, to generate the
square wave and second part consist 2 diodes and 2 capacitors to double the
output voltage.

Working

We have configured 555 Timer IC in Astable multivibrator mode to generate the

square wave of approx. 2KHz, this frequency is decided by the resistor R1, R2 and
capacitor C1. Below is he formulae for the same:

F = 1.44 / (R1+2*R2) * C1

When the output at PIN 3 of 555 IC is low, Diode D1 get forward biased and
capacitor C3 get charged through the D1. Capacitor C3 get charged up to the
same voltage at the source, in our case 5v.

Now when output at PIN 3 goes high, D1 get reverse biased and blocks the
discharging of the capacitor C3, and at the same time D2 is forward biased and
allow the capacitor C4 to charge. Now the capacitor C4 charges with the
combined voltage of Capacitor C3 and the input source voltage, means  5v of
capacitor C3 and 5v of input supply, so it charges up to 10v (twice the voltage of
input source). But in practical we get output voltage less than the twice of input
voltage, like in our case we get approx. 8.76v instead of 10v.
Applications
It wills double the input voltage.

Advantage
It wills double the input voltage.

It is easy to build, cheap.

Disadvantage

1. However this circuit is very useful to generate higher voltage from a low
power source, but this can only deliver up to 50mA current. So it should
only be used for low current driven applications.
 2. Also the output voltage may be unstable, so a voltage regulator (IC78XX) of
proper rating can be used regulation and smooth output. But voltage
regulator IC itself consume some current, and reduce the deliverable
current (must not exceed 70mA).