Usually, the brake is controlled by a brake control that is installed in either the motor terminal box or the control cabinet. You can choose from a wide range of brake controls. In addition to various connection voltages, brake controls for specific application requirements are available as well:
Brakes up to BE2 can also be delivered for operation at an external DC voltage source without additional brake control, if requested by the customer.
BE.. brakes are equipped with the two-coil system patented by SEW‑EURODRIVE. When using special brake control systems from SEW‑EURODRIVE with acceleration function, the brake control ensures that only the accelerator coil is switched on first, followed by the holding coil (entire coil). The powerful impulse magnetization (high acceleration current) of the accelerator coil results in a very short response time, particularly in large brakes, without reaching the saturation limit. The brake lining carrier moves clear very swiftly and the motor starts up with hardly any braking losses.
The response time for the application of the brake also depends on how rapidly the energy stored in the brake coil is dissipated when the power supply is switched off. A free-wheeling diode is used to dissipate the energy for a “cut-off in the AC circuit”. The current decreases at an exponential rate. The current dissipates much more rapidly via a varistor when the DC and AC circuits are cut-off at the same time as the coil's DC circuit. The response time is considerably reduced. Conventionally, cut-off in the DC and AC circuits is implemented using an additional contact on the brake contactor (suitable for an inductive load). Under certain conditions, you can use the SR.E electronic current relays or UR.E voltage relays for interrupting the DC circuit, see the following section.
The housings of BMS, BME, BMP, BMV and BMK are similar. The supply voltage and auxiliary or control terminals are connected to terminals 1-4, terminals 13-15 are the three supply lines to the BE brake.
The following tables list the technical data for brake control systems for installation in the motor terminal box and in the control cabinet. The different housings have different colors (= colour code) to make them easier to distinguish.
| Typ | Function | Voltage | Holding current IHmax A | Type | Publication number | Colour code |
| BG | Half-wave rectifier | AC 230 – 575 V | 1.4 | BG 1.4 | 827 881 4 | Black |
| AC 150 – 500 V | 1.5 | BG 1.5 | 825 384 6 | Black | ||
| AC 24 – 500 V | 3.0 | BG 3 | 825 386 2 | Brown | ||
| BGE | One-way rectifier with electronic switching | AC 230 – 575 V | 1.4 | BGE 1.4 | 827 882 2 | Red |
| AC 150 – 500 V | 1.5 | BGE 1.5 | 825 385 4 | Red | ||
| AC 42 – 150 V | 3.0 | BGE 3 | 825 387 0 | Blue | ||
| BSR | Half-wave rectifier + current relay for switch-off in the DC circuit | AC 150 – 500 V | 1.0 | BGE 1.5 + SR 11 | 825 385 4 826 761 8 | Red - |
| 1.0 | BGE 1.5 + SR 15 | 825 385 4 826 762 6 | Red - | |||
| 1.0 | BGE 1.5 + SR 19 | 825 385 4 826 246 2 | Red - | |||
| AC 42 – 150 V | 1.0 | BGE 3 + SR11 | 825 387 0 826 761 8 | Blue - | ||
| 1.0 | BGE 3 + SR15 | 825 387 0 826 762 6 | Blue - | |||
| 1.0 | BGE 3 + SR19 | 825 387 0 826 246 2 | Blue - | |||
| BUR | Half-wave rectifier + voltage relay for switch-off in the DC circuit | AC 150 – 500 V | 1.0 | BGE 1.5 + UR 15 | 825 385 4 826 759 6 | Red - |
| AC 42 – 150 V | 1.0 | BGE 3 + UR 11 | 825 387 0 826 758 8 | Blue - | ||
| BS | Varistor protection circuit | DC 24 V | 5.0 | BS24 | 826 763 4 | Water blue |
| BSG | Electronic switching | DC 24 V | 5.0 | BSG | 825 459 1 | White |
| BMP | One-way rectifier with electronic switching, integrated voltage relay for switch-off in the DC circuit | AC 230 – 575 V | 2.8 | 2.8 | 2.8 | - |
| Type | Function | Voltage | Holding current IHmax A | Type | Publication number | Colour code |
| BMS | One-way rectifier as BG | AC 230 – 575 V | 1.4 | BMS 1.4 | 829 830 0 | Black |
| AC 150 – 500 V | 1.5 | BMS 1.5 | 825 802 3 | Black | ||
| AC 42 – 150 V | 3.0 | BMS 3 | 825 803 1 | Brown | ||
| BME | One-way rectifier with electronic switching as BGE | AC 230 – 575 V | 1.4 | BME 1.4 | 829 831 9 | Red |
| AC 150 – 500 V | 1.5 | BME 1.5 | 825 722 1 | Red | ||
| AC 42 – 150 V | 3.0 | BME 3 | 825 723 X | Blue | ||
| BMH | One-way rectifier with electronic switching and heating function | AC 230 – 575 V | 1.4 | BMH 1.4 | 829 834 3 | Green |
| AC 150 – 500 V | 1.5 | BMH 1.5 | 825 818 X | Green | ||
| AC 42 – 150 V | 3.0 | BMH 3 | 825 819 8 | Yellow | ||
| BMP | One-way rectifier with electronic switching, integrated voltage relay for cut-off in the DC circuit | AC 230 – 575 V | 1.4 | BMP 1.4 | 829 832 7 | White |
| AC 150 – 500 V | 1.5 | BMP 1.5 | 825 685 3 | White | ||
| AC 42 – 150 V | 3.0 | BMP 3 | 826 566 6 | Light blue | ||
| AC 230 – 575 V | 2.8 | BMP 3.1 | 829 507 7 | - | ||
| BMK | One-way rectifier with electronic switching, 24 V DC control input and cut-off in the DC circuit | AC 230 – 575 V | 1.4 | BMK 1.4 | 829 883 5 | Water blue |
| AC 150 – 500 V | 1.5 | BMK 1.5 | 826 463 5 | Water blue | ||
| AC 42 – 150 V | 3.0 | BMK 3 | 826 567 4 | Bright red | ||
| BMV | Brake control unit with electronic switching, DC 24 V control input and fast cut-off | DC 24 V | 5.0 | BMV 5 | 1 300 006 3 | White |
| BST | Safety-related brake control with electronic switching and DC link supply | AC 460 | 0.6 | BST 0.6S | 08299714 | - |
| AC 400 | 0.7 | BST 0.7S | 13000772 | - | ||
| AC 230 | 1.2 | BST 1.2S | 13001337 | - |