I saw a post in the Facebook group asking about Z motor brakes for the z axis and they mentioned this board. And it got me thinking…. Would this work to stop the bed from falling on the v4 in the even of an error or power outage? This is above my pay grade so I wanted to ask you smart folks here lol
It needs 24v to work. So, no, it would not work on a power outage.
Ok I was under the assumption that when it lost 24v it would lock the motor. Maybe I misunderstood
Okay, re-reading it it does say, “to keep it from falling on power off”. They don’t say what it’s actually doing. I suppose they could be shorting the phases causing a lockup. If so, disregard my last post. So, yes, if this is what they are doing, then you could use it to lock your Z motors. Sorry for my haste and not thinking it through in my first reply.
Yea, that only requires 24v to open the relays. When power is off, it closes the relays which shorts the stepper coils.
@barry99705 is so smart. I suppose you don’t even need this board. You could just short the phase terminals together through a relay which closes on power off.
project r3d made my printer kit. 
Now they make a different printer.
Typically you need power to release the brake. Same concept if it is electric, pneumatic or hydraulic brake mechanism. I’ve seen nema 17 steppers with a brake on it.
So it will work. Next question is are there any side effects to having them??
