IntelliChlor + Pentair Pump — ESPHome External Components

A set of ESPHome external components for talking to Pentair pool equipment over RS-485 and exposing it to Home Assistant — without a Pentair automation panel (EasyTouch / IntelliCenter).

Component	What it does
intellichlor	Read & control a Pentair IntelliChlor / iChlor salt chlorine generator (SWG): salt level, water temp, faults, and the chlorine output %.
pentair_pump	Master/controller for a Pentair-protocol variable-speed pump: read RPM/watts/GPM and set speed, flow, and run state.
uart_splitter	Fan a single hardware UART out to multiple read-only channels so several components can share one RS-485 bus.
pentair_sniffer	Passive bus monitor — decodes pump frames and counts traffic for debugging/verification. Writes nothing.

Each component is a standalone "hub" that you drop into your own ESPHome YAML; every entity is optional, so you expose only what you want. The ESP can run as a passive monitor of an existing controller, or take over and drive the equipment directly.

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Hardware

• An ESP32 (the examples use an esp32-s3-devkitc-1, ESP-IDF framework).
• An RS-485 transceiver (e.g. MAX485 / a 3.3 V-safe automatic-direction module) wired to the equipment's RS-485 / COM bus:
  • ESP tx_pin → transceiver DI
  • ESP rx_pin ← transceiver RO
  • Optional flow_control_pin → DE + !RE tied together (for non-auto-direction modules in half-duplex).
• The IntelliChlor / Pentair bus is 9600 8N1 (parity NONE, 1 stop bit). The intellichlor component enforces this at validation time.

⚠️ Mains & pool safety. This involves wiring into pool equipment carrying mains voltage. Do the work with power off, and only if you're comfortable with it. This is unofficial, reverse-engineered software with no affiliation with Pentair. Use at your own risk.

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Quick start

Point external_components at this repo and pull in the components you need:

external_components:
  - source: github://wolfson292/intellichlor
    components: [intellichlor]      # add pentair_pump, uart_splitter, pentair_sniffer as needed
    refresh: 1d

A complete, copy-paste-friendly single-device config lives in example.yaml. The sections below summarize each component.

ESPHome caches external components. If a rebuild doesn't pick up changes, lower refresh or clear the .esphome/ directory so it re-pulls.

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intellichlor

Talks to the IntelliChlor cell (a slave at bus address 0x50). With takeover off the ESP passively reads the cell as the existing controller polls it; with takeover on the ESP impersonates the controller and asserts the output % itself.

uart:
  id: swg_uart
  tx_pin: GPIO17
  rx_pin: GPIO18
  baud_rate: 9600
  parity: NONE        # required
  stop_bits: 1        # required

# Optional: a time source lets "boost" survive a reboot/OTA (stored as an
# absolute timestamp in flash).
time:
  - platform: sntp
    id: sntp_time

intellichlor:
  id: swg
  uart_id: swg_uart
  # flow_control_pin: GPIO8   # optional DE/!RE pin for half-duplex transceivers
  time_id: sntp_time          # optional, enables boost persistence
  update_interval: 60s

Entities

Sensors

Key	Description
salt_ppm	Salt level, ppm
water_temp	Water temperature (reported in °F)
output_percent	Cell-reported actual generation %
set_percent	Last commanded output %
boost_remaining	Minutes left in an active boost
status	Status byte from the cell
error	Raw alarm/fault bitmask (decode manually if needed)

Binary sensors (fault bits): no_flow, low_salt, very_low_salt, high_current, clean, low_volts, low_temp, check_pcb.

Text sensors: version (model string, e.g. Intellichlor--40), firmware_version (cell firmware, e.g. 1.8).

Controls

Platform	Key	Description
number	swg_percent	Output setpoint, 0–100% (persisted across reboot/OTA)
switch	takeover_mode	ON = ESP drives the cell; OFF = passive monitor
select	swg_boost	Run at 100% for a fixed time: Off / 6h / 12h / 24h / 48h
button	end_boost	Cancel an active boost early

Boost only takes effect while takeover_mode is ON. With takeover off the cell is driven by the real controller; boost will log a warning and do nothing.

Fault bit caveat: the high_current / clean bits follow the protocol spec, which diverges from one hardware capture. If a real "clean cell" condition lights up "High Current" (or vice versa), see AGENTS.md — the raw error sensor always carries the unmodified value.

See the example for the full entity block.

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pentair_pump

Master/controller for a Pentair-protocol variable-speed pump (e.g. a LINGXIAO VS pump in ECOM mode) at bus address 0x60. Polls the pump, can hold it in remote control, and sets speed/flow + run state.

pentair_pump:
  id: pump
  uart_id: pump_uart       # its own bus, or a uart_splitter channel
  address: 0x60            # pump address (default 0x60)
  source_address: 0x10     # controller/source address (default 0x10)
  update_interval: 2s

Entities

Sensors: rpm, watts, gpm, mode, drive_state, run_state, status_code. Binary sensor: running. Text sensor: last_status (full hex of the last status reply).

Controls

Platform	Key	Description
switch	takeover	Master enable: actively control vs monitor-only
switch	run	Start/stop the pump
select	mode	Setpoint mode: Speed (RPM) or Flow (GPM)
number	target_rpm	Target speed, 600–3450 RPM (step 10)
number	target_gpm	Target flow, 15–130 GPM (step 1)

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uart_splitter

The IntelliChlor and the pump can share the same physical RS-485 bus. ESPHome's uart hub is single-owner, so this component takes over one hardware UART and fans it out to several channels that each look like a UART to downstream components.

uart:
  id: mod_uart
  tx_pin: GPIO17
  rx_pin: GPIO18
  baud_rate: 9600

uart_splitter:
  uart_id: mod_uart
  channels:
    - id: uart_chlor       # -> intellichlor
    - id: uart_pump        # -> pentair_pump
    - id: uart_pump_sniff  # -> pentair_sniffer

intellichlor:
  uart_id: uart_chlor
  # ...
pentair_pump:
  uart_id: uart_pump
  # ...

Channels default to 9600 8N1; override baud_rate / data_bits / stop_bits / parity per channel if needed. Components on shared channels queue and gate their transmits (≈one frame per 100 ms) to stay polite on the shared bus.

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pentair_sniffer

A passive, write-nothing monitor of the pump protocol — useful for verifying what the pump masters are actually putting on the wire. Decodes frames and exposes counters.

pentair_sniffer:
  id: sniffer
  uart_id: uart_pump_sniff
  pump_address: 0x60
  log_all_frames: true
  # all sensors below are optional:
  pump_rpm:           { name: "Sniffer Pump RPM" }
  pump_watts:         { name: "Sniffer Pump Watts" }
  pump_gpm:           { name: "Sniffer Pump GPM" }
  valid_frames:       { name: "Sniffer Valid Frames" }
  pump_frames:        { name: "Sniffer Pump Frames" }
  chlorinator_frames: { name: "Sniffer Chlorinator Frames" }
  checksum_errors:    { name: "Sniffer Checksum Errors" }
  last_frame:         { name: "Sniffer Last Frame" }

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Building & testing

There's no standalone firmware here — these are components compiled by ESPHome inside a consuming project. To compile-check the whole set against this clone:

esphome config  compile-test.yaml
esphome compile compile-test.yaml

compile-test.yaml wires all four components together exactly as on the live board (single bus → uart_splitter → chlorinator + pump + sniffer) and is a good reference for a combined setup.

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Protocol

The reverse-engineered RS-485 wire format (framing, DLE byte-stuffing, checksum, command set, and status decoding) is documented in docs/IntelliChlor_Protocol.md. Implementation notes and history for component authors live in AGENTS.md.

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License

GNU General Public License v3.0.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Pentair. "IntelliChlor", "IntelliCenter", and "EasyTouch" are trademarks of their respective owners.