He replaced the Mosfet with an NPN transistor. The circuit has nothing to limit the base current so the 555 tries to feed hundreds of mA to the base.
In the datasheet the NPN transistor has a base current of 1.25A which the 555 certainly cannot provide.
Maybe now the 555 is fried.
As Audio points out you need a resistor in the base lead. A 33hm: 2 watt resistor will limit the current to just under the 200ma max output of the 555. The problem is that your transistor has a really low beta so the max you'll be able to switch is apx 2Amps. Go with the FET, it'll work way better.
OK I will order one of them. I was hoping to use the 5296. Can I still use it? I dont need 2 amps. I was going to use this as much as possible. So do I still need a 1.25 amp input? I was going to use a IRF630 to get some more amps into it.
I was also going to replace the 7808 with a 7805, since the 7808 only supplies the 555 timer.
I was going to use AC mains current for the circuit. I would Run one end through a 12V 3.5amp transformer, than take that into a rectifier and run that through a 5v regulator with bunch of smoothing caps. I would then take the output of the 555 that then would run through a IRF540N, and the output of that would run through the C5296. The C5296 would then run on rectified and smoothed (somewhat) DC voltage of 120. That would power the transformer. Bingo I got high voltage! This should work right?
Just imagine the 10-25volt input of the schematic is changed with regulated 120VDC and 12VDC. the 12VDC goes to the 555 (through the 7805) and the 120VDC would then run through the C5296.
is this to power the flyback? if so there is a much simpler way out there, just google "single transistor flyback driver". i know it's crap, but it gets the job done, and it already drives the flyback at it's resonant frequency. i have tried it and got about 50kv output, but i think i have fried the flyback now as the utput has dropped significantly. actually there was a capacitor built into my flyback, and i could get huge loud sparks i have a vid of them here :**broken link removed**
Like I said, use a variable supply, if at all possible. Start with a low voltage and ramp it up untill it works.
One thing you could do is build a 555 timer circuit with a variable duty cycle (see the 555's datasheet). Start out with a low duty cycle and increase it until the output voltage doesn't get any higher when the duty increases further.