GE IC693CHS393 10-Slot Remote Expansion Baseplate

Description

In plants running GE Series 90-30 PLCs, one of the quietest but most expensive risks is running out of physical I/O slots when the process evolves. A new production line, an additional safety zone, or a regulatory requirement for more monitoring points can force engineers into painful choices: either abandon the perfectly good CPU and migrate to a newer platform, or cobble together remote I/O over serial links that introduce latency and single-point failures. The GE IC693CHS393 eliminates that dilemma by giving you a clean, factory-supported 10-slot remote expansion baseplate that extends the reach of the main rack up to 700 feet while keeping every point deterministic and fully integrated into the existing logic.

This baseplate becomes essential whenever the control cabinet is full, when field devices are spread across a large machine or skid, or when you need to isolate noisy high-power modules from the CPU rack. Instead of expensive third-party distributed I/O or a premature platform upgrade, the GE IC693CHS393 lets the same Series 90-30 CPU treat remote modules exactly like local ones—no special programming, no protocol converters, and no compromise on scan time. It’s the difference between a temporary patch and a permanent, high-reliability extension that preserves system stability for another decade in industrial automation and process control environments.

The GE IC693CHS393 is a 10-slot remote expansion baseplate that connects to a local Series 90-30 rack (or another expansion rack) through a single parallel I/O cable using an expansion module such as IC693CBL300/301/302/312 series. Data travels over a high-speed 5 MHz parallel bus, so the CPU sees every card in the remote base exactly as if it were in the main rack—same %I, %Q, %AI, %AQ references, same deterministic update rate. You can place the GE IC693CHS393 up to 700 feet (213 meters) away when using the extended-length IC693CBL312 cable with a separate 24 V DC supply for the remote termination plug.

The baseplate accepts any standard Series 90-30 module, including high-density analog, thermocouple, RTD, and discrete blocks. Power is supplied locally via an IC693PWR321/330/331 power supply mounted in slot 1 of the remote base, which removes load from the CPU rack and keeps voltage drops under control over long cable runs. Diagnostics are built in: the expansion port continuously monitors cable integrity and reports faults to the PLC fault table. Multiple GE IC693CHS393 baseplates can be daisy-chained (up to four total expansion/remote racks in the system) as long as total cable length and power budgeting rules are observed.

Deploying the GE IC693CHS393 delivers immediate cost avoidance: no new CPU, no logic rewrite, no additional licensing fees. The parallel I/O bus guarantees deterministic performance identical to local slots, so safety circuits, motion loops, and high-speed counting applications suffer zero degradation. Maintenance crews benefit from the same familiar module LEDs and fault-table entries they already know, which dramatically reduces training and troubleshooting time.

Because power is supplied locally, you avoid voltage-drop headaches on long runs and can place high-wattage modules (like 2 A relay outputs) far from the main panel without starving the CPU rack. Plants routinely report that adding one or two GE IC693CHS393 baseplates extends the economic life of their 90-30 systems by 7–12 years while supporting growth that would otherwise force a full platform migration.

You’ll commonly see the GE IC693CHS393 on automotive body-shop skids where weld controllers and pneumatic modules are distributed along a 60-meter line, in water-treatment filter galleries where analog instruments are spread across multiple bays, and in large packaging machines where the main rack is in the electrical room but discrete I/O lives on the moving carriages. It’s also the go-to solution in metals plants adding new furnace zones without rewiring back to a crowded central cabinet. In all cases, the requirement is simple: more slots, same deterministic performance, harsh plant floor conditions, and critical system uptime.

IC693CHS391 – 5-slot remote/expansion baseplate for smaller distributed nodes

IC693CHS392 – 10-slot standard expansion (50 ft max) when distance isn’t an issue

IC693CBL300/301/302/312 – Parallel I/O cables in 1 m to 50 ft (15 m) lengths

IC693PWR330 – High-capacity 120/240 V AC power supply often paired for remote racks

IC693PWR331 – 24 V DC high-capacity supply for isolated remote location

IC693MAR590 – 8-pt 120 V AC input / 8-pt relay output mixed module frequently installed in remote bases

IC693MDL940 – 16-pt relay output module common for remote valve and motor starter control

IC693ACC302 – Long-life battery pack for remote racks with frequent power cycling

Before installation, confirm total system expansion length stays under 700 ft and that you have the correct cable (IC693CBL312 for distances >50 ft). Budget at least 100 mA of 5 V backplane current per meter of cable plus the full load of all modules in the GE IC693CHS393. Mount the baseplate vertically with at least 100 mm clearance top and bottom for convection cooling. Use the supplied I/O bus termination plug on the remote base and feed it from a clean, isolated 24 V DC source—voltage dips below 20 V will cause intermittent bus faults.

For ongoing maintenance, visually check the “EXP OK” LED on the expansion module in the local rack monthly; a flashing or off condition almost always means a loose termination plug or broken conductor. Every two years, remove and reseat the termination plug and cable connectors to scrape off any oxidation. Keep one spare termination plug (IC693ACC307) in stores—when they fail, the entire remote rack goes offline instantly.