How to wire Charge Pump Safety

TWO ONE-SHOT CIRCUITS 

Figure 1 does not require a power supply except for the relay coil. Shottkey diodes are used to 
preserve as much of the 12.5kHz pumping voltage as possible. This voltage can be as low as 
3.5VDC from the parallel port. The charge pump voltage is stored in the MOSFET’s gate to 
source capacitance and is bled off by the 1 meg resistor should the 12.5kHz pump source stop. 
The circuit responds in 1 millisecond. A “logic level” MOSFET should be used because as little as 
3VDC may be available at the gate. 

Figure 2 uses a conventional re-triggerable multivibrator (one-shot) whose timing period is set to 1 
millisecond. It’s advantage is it can provide 5VDC to the MOSFET gate and is clean in turning the 
MOSFET on and off. It’s disadvantage is it needs a +5VDC supply for the one-shot CMOS IC, 
(HEF4538B). Otherwise its performance is slightly better than Figure 1. 

Mariss Freimanis 
Geckodrive Inc. 
Sept 23, 2002