What the 37096 alarm means

The brake power supervision on the manipulator controller board detected a fault on the brake power signal and applied all brakes. We have built up many handled cases of this ABB IRC5 / OmniCore (RobotWare) alarm, and usually the first on-site inspection tells us what is wrong.

Most common causes

  • Brake power supply fault in the cabinet
  • Faulty brake power relay
  • Disturbance or short on the brake power signal line
  • Failing MCOB/MCB board
Field note: Confirm or rule out the first cause first — it is the situation we encounter most.

Step-by-step field fix

  1. Check brake power at the MCOB/MCB and from the cabinet power supply
  2. Test the brake power relay
  3. Inspect the brake power signal wiring for shorts or disturbance
  4. Replace the MCOB/MCB if supervision still trips with a healthy supply
Safety first: For ABB 37096, a failed brake means a vertical axis can drop - a person underneath is a severe-accident case, so we require mechanical support first and no repeated power-on trials. On site you may not carry out the first step yourself: Check brake power at the MCOB/MCB and from the cabinet power supply. Beyond that it is a dropping vertical axis work - leave it to a professional. On ABB 37096: the only safe self-action is stopping the axis, holding power off and supporting the arm mechanically; gap measurement, torque testing and brake replacement are engineer work.

How we diagnose brake faults on site

ABB 37096 belongs to the brake family. On ABB 37096 the failing stage is DSQC drive modules (DSQC 600 generation; OmniCore drive units) on the IRC5 / OmniCore - the electromagnetic brake: brake supply, coil, friction lining and mechanical gap - directly tied to whether an axis can drop. We start reading ABB 37096 at the FlexPendant event log and system diagnostics, with the cabinet status LEDs.

The chain involved in ABB 37096 runs: brake control signal -> brake supply circuit -> electromagnetic coil -> friction lining and disc -> axis holding.

Brake power supply fault in the cabinet on ABB 37096 is often not the brake itself: A brake that will not release is often not a bad brake but a short supply. The brake needs rated voltage to release fully; burnt relay contacts in its supply circuit, undersized conductors dropping voltage, or a weak supply module leave the brake half-open - it appears to work while actually running on friction, and then it burns. We measure actual voltage at the brake terminals against the nameplate; beyond the allowed drop we chase the supply circuit, not the brake.

Field notes on this page cover ABB 37096 (Brake Power Fault (MCOB/MCB)); written by the Henghuan repair team, updated 2026-10-01.

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Related Brakes alarms

37097 — Brake Short Circuit Fault (Axis N) 37098 — Brake Open Circuit Fault (Axis N) 37101 — Brake Failure — Mechanical Unit May Collapse
Same family: this code belongs to the Brake alarms family - the page collects all Brake-family codes we have handled, with the common inspection order and spares.
Other brands: we also keep field-fix libraries for Yaskawa · Universal Robots · Kawasaki and more — see the complete alarm code hub.

Frequently asked questions

QWhat does the ABB 37096 alarm mean?

The brake power supervision on the manipulator controller board detected a fault on the brake power signal and applied all brakes. We have built up many handled cases of this ABB IRC5 / OmniCore (RobotWare) alarm, and usually the first on-site inspection tells us what is wrong. ABB 37096 sits in the brake family; on our work orders the highest-frequency trigger for this code is "Brake power supply fault in the cabinet".

QCan I clear a ABB 37096 alarm myself?

Whether ABB 37096 clears on its own depends on the outcome of "Check brake power at the MCOB/MCB and from the cabinet power supply". Finish the flow with "Replace the MCOB/MCB if supervision still trips with a healthy supply" to confirm ABB 37096 - do not skip it. If that step is clean, the second most frequent cause on ABB 37096 is "Faulty brake power relay". Do not chase takt through a repeating ABB 37096. Left alone, brake faults tend to graduate from repairable to must-replace.

QWith a brake alarm like ABB 37096, can we keep producing for now?

The commonest causes we see on ABB 37096 are "Brake power supply fault in the cabinet, Faulty brake power relay, Disturbance or short on the brake power signal line", so we stock the van against those. For ABB 37096 specifically, we carry the brand's common brake assemblies, relays and supply modules; every change ends with a static hold test. For ABB 37096, brake faults carry drop risk so we prioritise them, and after replacement we hold-test on site before handover. Before we roll, tell us what ABB 37096 shows on the FlexPendant event log and system diagnostics, with the cabinet status LEDs and what the machine was doing - phone or video triage is free.

This page on ABB 37096 was written by the Henghuan Robotics repair team from field service experience. Alarm descriptions are our own summary for troubleshooting reference and may vary by controller and software version — when in doubt, check your ABB documentation or contact us. Henghuan is an independent service provider, not affiliated with or endorsed by ABB.