Mechanically timed switch

Hey guys. I'm new to the forums. I had a question and googled "electronics forums" and this is what I got. So hopefully someone can help me out. Basically I'm looking for a mechanically timed switch. Sort of like a push button switch that would slowly come up after being pressed and would maintain a connection for a set amount of seconds. Or better yet just stay down for a few seconds then pop back up.

An example would be a push button switch for a light bulb. When you press the button down the light bulb turns on. I'd like a switch that I could press down and then release, and the switch would keep the light on for 5 seconds before it turns off. I know there are electronic solutions out there, but I'm looking for a simple mechanical one. Preferably a small one. I'm not a super electrician or anything and excuse me if there is something simple that exists that fits my needs perfectly. The extent of my knowledge is what I see on the Radio Shack shelves.

So if someone here could help me, I'd be super appreciative.

What voltage and current are you switching with the timer?

I have no idea. The wires won't be used for electrical current (I don't think). It's going to be used as a disconnect switch on a Cat 5e Ethernet cable.

A Fitz said:

I have no idea. The wires won't be used for electrical current (I don't think). It's going to be used as a disconnect switch on a Cat 5e Ethernet cable.

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So does that mean you have to make/break all eight conductors?

No. The end plan is to get a nice case and have two RJ45 jacks on it where two patch cables would be plugged. Then inside the case have a single wire running to the switch while the other 7 have straight through connections. But first I'd like to just strip down a wire and untwist one of the 4 twisted pairs and run a single cable through the switch. If that doesn't achieve my end result then yeah, I'm gonna have to find a way to use a single switch to temporarily break the connection on all 8 wires.

I could easily do this with a On/Off switch or some sort of momentary switch, however I'd have to press the switch twice to disconnect then reconnect the wire. I was hoping for some sort of mechanical timer, like a mini hydraulic arm that would only let the switch move up slowly. Or some sort of tension spring that doesn't pop straight back up but instead uncoils at a much slower speed. If I can't find something like that I'll shell out more money for an electronic timer switch (if I can find one), but hopefully it won't come to that. From the research I've done so far it actually seems that what I want isn't a common thing... though it certainly seemed like it to me.

use a reed relay with a capacitor across the coil. set up the switch to energize the coil. then when you turn it off the charge of the capacitor will keep it going for a few seconds. you will most likely need several ultracapacitors in series to get the voltage.
i think depending on the relay 3x 1 farad capacitors should be perfect although the delay might be a little long.

the relay coil will use up about10ma of power so you might want to look into electronic or mechanical.

or use a normally closed relay and charge the capacitor through a resistor. the cap will act like a short until its charged and short the relay coil for a few seconds.