I wanna use a 555 timer in monostable mode to power a Mosfet for 10 minutes, then stop until the user re-presses the button.
Is the 555 timer able to **reliably** and accurately work for 10 minutes, or it will lag and fail sometimes? I don't mind a few seconds error.

If not, what's another cheap way to power stuff for a specific period of time, except microcontrollers of course.

 

The quality of the Timing-Capacitor is the only real variable to be concerned with.

~10-minutes is getting fairly long to expect an accuracy of better than plus or minus ~10%.

There are dedicated Timer-Chips that have much higher accuracy than just a Capacitor and a Resistor.

Check-out : TimerBlox from Analog-Devices.
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The quality of the Timing-Capacitor is the only real variable to be concerned with.

~10-minutes is getting fairly long to expect an accuracy of better than plus or minus ~10%.

There are dedicated Timer-Chips that have much higher accuracy than just a Capacitor and a Resistor.

Check-out : TimerBlox from Analog-Devices.
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What do you think about using a CD4060? I've seen people use them get the same result

 

Is the 555 timer able to **reliably** and accurately work for 10 minutes, or it will lag and fail sometimes? I don't mind a few seconds error.

10 minutes is a long time for a 555 timer, and they aren't known for their timing accuracy.

To get such a long time period, you'll have to use a large capacitor, and its leakage will be a large factor in timing accuracy.

5 seconds in 10 minutes is better than 1% accuracy. I don't think you're going to get that using a 10% tolerance capacitor with any temperature variation.

If not, what's another cheap way to power stuff for a specific period of time, except microcontrollers of course.

You could use a counter with a crystal oscillator. CD4020/4040/4060. The latter has a built-in oscillator.

 

I wanna use a 555 timer in monostable mode to power a Mosfet for 10 minutes, then stop until the user re-presses the button.
Is the 555 timer able to **reliably** and accurately work for 10 minutes, or it will lag and fail sometimes? I don't mind a few seconds error.

If not, what's another cheap way to power stuff for a specific period of time, except microcontrollers of course.

I think MCU will be more dependable.

 

I wanna use a 555 timer in monostable mode to power a Mosfet for 10 minutes, then stop until the user re-presses the button.
Is the 555 timer able to **reliably** and accurately work for 10 minutes, or it will lag and fail sometimes? I don't mind a few seconds error.

If not, what's another cheap way to power stuff for a specific period of time, except microcontrollers of course.

The first design I ever did that I got paid real money for (albeit $50 for the final unit) was a timer similar to this. I was a sophomore and so hadn't been exposed to programmable logic or even to counter ICs, so the only hammer I had was a 555. It was for a 15-minute timer. I got it to work. Barely. The capacitor size ended up being so large that leakage current resulted in the component sizing being by trail and error and the variation in timings was on the order of a minute, which was fine for this application.

If you want to avoid microcontrollers, then use a 555 in conjunction with a counter.

There are also timer/counter ICs (don't know which, if any, are still in production) that would probably be a good fit for your task.

There are also time-delay relays that might be suitable.

Is there a reason why you don't want to use a cheap microcontroller?

 

The first design I ever did that I got paid real money for (albeit $50 for the final unit) was a timer similar to this. I was a sophomore and so hadn't been exposed to programmable logic or even to counter ICs, so the only hammer I had was a 555. It was for a 15-minute timer. I got it to work. Barely. The capacitor size ended up being so large that leakage current resulted in the component sizing being by trail and error and the variation in timings was on the order of a minute, which was fine for this application.

If you want to avoid microcontrollers, then use a 555 in conjunction with a counter.

There are also timer/counter ICs (don't know which, if any, are still in production) that would probably be a good fit for your task.

There are also time-delay relays that might be suitable.

Is there a reason why you don't want to use a cheap microcontroller?

Nice backstory
I don't want a microcontroller because I'm making a small business, so each unit must not cost me a lot, and MCs are a bit expensive here..

 

MCs are a bit expensive here

Newark has ATtiny5 for under $0.40 for qty 50. Double that because you'll need a ceramic resonator/crystal.

A 555 timer and a timing cap will cost more than that.

 

Newark has ATtiny5 for under $0.40 for qty 50. Double that because you'll need a ceramic resonator/crystal.
View attachment 325930
A 555 timer and a timing cap will cost more than that.

I don't have that in my country, and other microcontrollers are very expensive.
I think I'll just use CD4060, which is supposed to be stable and accurate.

 

I don't have that in my country, and other microcontrollers are very expensive.
I think I'll just use CD4060, which is supposed to be stable and accurate.

You can't do mail order in your country?

 

You can't do mail order in your country?

Customs are extremely arbitrary (Sometimes 3X the original price). Sometimes employees do that to take stuff for themselves.
Also, many electronics take months to arrive, because they get checked for "Explosives".

That's what happens when you allow the army to take control.

 

Nice backstory
I don't want a microcontroller because I'm making a small business, so each unit must not cost me a lot, and MCs are a bit expensive here..

If you are going to be making a lot of these, then that argues very strongly in favor of using a microcontroller, even if this timing function is the only purpose it ends up serving.

You will need to purchase the hardware/software needed to develop the firmware and program the part, but it isn't very expensive and the simple MCU's are easy to learn the basics of. Amortize the cost over even a few dozen units, and keeping in mind that you now have capabilities to apply to future products, and it's hard to go in another direction.

You can get 8-pin PIC microcontrollers for $0.70 in single quantities from DigiKey and $0.59 in quantities of 100 or more. DigiKey is not known for its great prices (it has other redeeming features that make the prices worth it).

A 555 chip is going to cost you something like $0.40 each in single quantities and about half that in quantities of 100. Then you need to add a counter IC, which is going to be about the same cost, and some timing components. Right there are are probably in excess of the cost of the MCU. Then there's the component and lead count. Assuming you are going to have boards fabricated and populated professionally (and it doesn't take too many units before this is the cost-effective way to go), the per-unit cost is going to be related to the number of pads and the number of components, so putting as much functionality as possible into a single IC is highly attractive.

 

I don't have that in my country, and other microcontrollers are very expensive.
I think I'll just use CD4060, which is supposed to be stable and accurate.

You can have the work done outside the country. Send the PCB files to any of several board houses and have them make the boards and populate them using components in their inventory. If necessary, have then sent to someone in another country that you contract with to test them.