ML1100 I/O card ribbon cable

I am upgrading a ML1100 system to a ML1400. The reason is the existing ML1100 is max'ed with 4 IO cards, and I have to add an additional card. The panel space where the PLC is mounted is tight, but there is some space about 8" to the right.
The IO cards are attached with ribbon cables. Does anyone know if AB makes any kind of an extension cable where the next card can sit farther away from the previous card. I searched the AB site but could not find anything.

Anybody

I'm pretty sure that AB doesn't make what you're looking for. You could try making one yourself... all the components can be had from a place like Digi-Key. You can buy rolls of ribbon cable, and the ribbon connectors are available in a clamp-style that connect to the ribbon conductors with no tools required. You would just need to measure the pitch of the pins on the PLC connector and order the correct mating connector.

HOWEVER, I'm sure the PLC backplane connections are sensitive to cable length. You could run into operational problems by trying to jury rig it. But if you have no other options, it may be worth a try.

The 1769 expansion IO for the micrologix 1500 has an extension lead, I believe this is one of the selling points of this type of IO.

So I doubt there is a solution for the lower level architectures. That said, ken could come back and tell me to GTFO.

If you're desperate I suppose there's no harm in trying your own cable. Just watch capacitance/resistance.