Repeatable Switches

Let me preface this question by saying I've been playing a lot of 90's maps lately and have been getting stumped by some of the "puzzles" in them.

When you press a repeatable switch for a door or a lift, you can't press it again until it completes its full action and goes back to it's original position.

Some switches can be flicked on and off as much as you want with no delay. I've never really took note of what these switches do since their action isn't always obvious. What are the actions these switches could be doing? What should I be looking for?

Those switches are probably ones that can be pressed repeatedly but only do a certain action once until it "reverses" so it can be done again. That's the best explanation I can give you.

Usually they're doing something that happens instantly. The classic is the "raise floor" type being used with a control sector that actually has a lower floor height (instantly snaps to position). You can press the switch over and over because it's not taking any time to complete, like a door or elevator would.

or floor move to lowest/highest, if the floor is already at the lowest/highest floor, or brightness actions, etc.

If the switch controls multiple sectors with the same tag, the switch can be reused if at least one of the sectors already stopped its "move" (or other action). That's a factor too.

This behaviour is well noticeable when a switch lowers two of more lifts, specially if they're of different height. Admittedly, it doesn't fit into the "no delay" category though.