Index: core/src/main/scala/kafka/producer/SyncProducer.scala
===================================================================
--- core/src/main/scala/kafka/producer/SyncProducer.scala	(revision 1241331)
+++ core/src/main/scala/kafka/producer/SyncProducer.scala	(working copy)
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@
   private val MaxConnectBackoffMs = 60000
   private var channel : SocketChannel = null
   private var sentOnConnection = 0
+  private var lastConnectionTime = System.currentTimeMillis
+
   private val lock = new Object()
   @volatile
   private var shutdown: Boolean = false
@@ -94,10 +96,12 @@
       }
       // TODO: do we still need this?
       sentOnConnection += 1
-      if(sentOnConnection >= config.reconnectInterval) {
+
+      if(sentOnConnection >= config.reconnectInterval || (config.reconnectTimeInterval >= 0 && System.currentTimeMillis - lastConnectionTime >= config.reconnectTimeInterval)) {
         disconnect()
         channel = connect()
         sentOnConnection = 0
+        lastConnectionTime = System.currentTimeMillis
       }
       val endTime = SystemTime.nanoseconds
       SyncProducerStats.recordProduceRequest(endTime - startTime)
Index: core/src/main/scala/kafka/producer/SyncProducerConfig.scala
===================================================================
--- core/src/main/scala/kafka/producer/SyncProducerConfig.scala	(revision 1241331)
+++ core/src/main/scala/kafka/producer/SyncProducerConfig.scala	(working copy)
@@ -40,5 +40,8 @@
 
   val reconnectInterval = Utils.getInt(props, "reconnect.interval", 30000)
 
+  /** negative reconnect time interval means disabling this time-based reconnect feature */
+  var reconnectTimeInterval = Utils.getInt(props, "reconnect.time.interval.ms", 1000*1000*10)
+
   val maxMessageSize = Utils.getInt(props, "max.message.size", 1000000)
 }