Servo's with brakes ? how important

[curtisturner]

I am in the process of buying some Automation Direct 1KV Low inertia servos.
They offer them both with and without brake.
Is this something i need ? What exactly is the brake used for ?

Thanks
Curtis

[MetLHead]

Curtis,

Servo motors with brakes are typically used for an axis that you want to stay put when the motors are off. This is common practice for a Z axis, especially when air or hydraulics is used for counterbalancing. Brakes are also recommended when you have a high speed axis that must stop in a short distance in an emergency situation.

Scott

[Jason Ross]

If your vertical axis is a ball screw you definitely need a brake, if it is an acme screw they are self locking and they do not require a brake. You can also retrofit a brake to a servo with products from Electroid

[unterhaus]

brakes are a pain unless you really need them. If you need one, it's a real pain if you don't have one. Have a machine I designed that needs a brake on the Z axis, and it's going to cost me big bucks to fix the problem.