Cordex HP Controller (Alpha / EnerSys)

The Cordex HP driver polls an Alpha Technologies (EnerSys) Cordex HP system controller — CXC HP, CXCi HP, or CXCM1 HP — over Modbus TCP and surfaces DC system telemetry as device attributes with history enabled. The Limited Data Set (battery voltage / current / runtime, total load, AC mains, alarm thresholds, system mode) lives at fixed input-register addresses; an extra_register_map lets you pull additional points out of the full DC System and AMPS HP2 register tables.

The integration is read-only. The Cordex HP does not implement Modbus Holding Registers (FC03), so setpoint changes need the controller's HTTP control plane and are out of scope here.

Status

Built against the Alpha Cordex HP Modbus Integrator Guide 0350114-J0 Rev K (08/2021). Limited Data Set addresses are stable across firmware revisions; full data set addresses are dynamic per install.

Prerequisites

• Modbus enabled on the CXC HP. By default it is off — turn it on under Controller > Configure Controller > Communications > Modbus in the controller web UI.
• Note the Limited Data Set Device ID (default 247) and any System Device IDs (one per DC system; one per AMPS HP2 inverter system).
• Outbound TCP/502 from the GEM controller to the Cordex HP IP.
• For points outside the Limited Data Set: export the controller's Modbus Table CSV from the web UI and translate it into the extra_register_map JSON shape below.

Setup

1. Enable Modbus on the controller. Note the configured byte order — the CXC HP default is Least significant bytes first, which maps to little_endian on this driver.
2. Note the device IDs — Limited Data Set ID (default 247), DC System ID (typically 1), AMPS HP2 System ID(s) (typically 2+).
3. Create the device — open Devices (System → Devices → Add Device) and pick the Cordex HP Controller (Alpha / EnerSys) driver. Set:
   • ip — controller IP
   • port — 502 (default)
   • limited_data_set_unit_id — match the controller (default 247)
   • byte_order — match the controller (default little_endian)
4. (Optional) Add an extra register map for points beyond the Limited Data Set. Paste a JSON array into the extra_register_map attribute. Each entry: {name, unit_id, register, format, unit?, scale?, codes?}.
5. Watch the device attributes populate after one polling cycle (default 10 s).

tip

The full DC System and AMPS HP2 register addresses are dynamic per install — the controller assigns them as inventory is added or removed. Always pull the live map from the controller's web UI rather than copying from another install. Use the controller's Re-number Modbus Table By Name button before importing if you need address stability across identical sites.

Attributes

Device

Attribute	Required	Type	Notes
ip	yes	string	Controller IP.
port	no	int	TCP port. Default 502.
limited_data_set_unit_id	no	int	Modbus unit ID for the Limited Data Set. Default 247.
byte_order	no	string	little_endian (default) | big_endian | mid_big | mid_little. Must match the controller.
polling_rate	no	int	Poll interval in ms. Default 10000. Below 5000 ms can stress the controller under heavy alarm activity.
timeout	no	int	Modbus request timeout in ms. Default 10000.
reconnect_timeout	no	int	Delay between reconnect attempts in ms. Default 3000.
extra_register_map	no	json	List of additional points to poll. See format below.

Limited Data Set (auto-populated)

Each value is a 32-bit float spanning two consecutive input registers (30001..30036).

Attribute	Unit
system_voltage	V
total_load_current	A
total_capacity_installed	A
system_mode_code	— (numeric)
system_mode	string (resolved label — see list below)
estimated_rectifier_ac_voltage	V
estimated_battery_runtime	min
last_discharge_duration	min
output_voltage_low_alarm_limit	V
output_voltage_high_alarm_limit	V
battery_runtime_low_alarm_limit	min
ac_mains_voltage_low_alarm_limit	V
ac_mains_voltage_high_alarm_limit	V
battery_capacity_rating	Ah
battery_average_temperature	°C
battery_current	A
battery_temp_low_alarm_limit	°C
battery_temp_high_alarm_limit	°C
battery_charge_current_high_limit	A

system_mode resolves the numeric system_mode_code to one of these exact strings — use them verbatim when writing triggers or conditions on plant state:

Unknown · NoBattery · Disconnected · Discharging · Conditioning · Charging · BatteryTest

A mains/AC-fail (the plant running off batteries) shows up as Discharging; a code the driver doesn't recognize is reported as Unknown(<n>).

Derived power (Power Flow)

The Cordex reports volts and amps, not watts. After each poll the driver derives DC power on the bus (P = V × I) so the plant appears alongside other power devices in the Power Management dashboard. Each input is guarded against the null sentinel, so a missing reading is skipped rather than published as a bogus 0 W.

Attribute	Unit	Role	Derived from
load_power_w	W	power.load	system_voltage × total_load_current
battery_power_w	W	power.battery	system_voltage × battery_current

Battery sign convention

battery_power_w follows the Cordex battery_current sign. Verify it against a discharge (AC-fail) event; if the sign is reversed, set metric_sign: 'inverted' on the registry row so the dashboard reads charge/discharge correctly. See Power Management — canonical metric roles.

Extra register map format

[
  { "unit_id": 1, "name": "dc_battery_voltage", "register": 35157, "format": "float32", "unit": "V" },
  { "unit_id": 1, "name": "dc_battery_current", "register": 35159, "format": "float32", "unit": "A" },
  { "unit_id": 2, "name": "ampshp2_inv1_loading_w", "register": 36773, "format": "float32", "unit": "W" },
  { "unit_id": 2, "name": "ampshp2_inv1_ac_output_status", "register": 36775, "format": "float32",
    "codes": { "0": "On", "1": "ManualOff", "2": "IrrecoverableError", "3": "RecoverableError" } }
]

Field	Notes
unit_id	Modbus unit ID for this point. Entries are read grouped by unit ID, and the unit is set on every read so a command issued mid-poll cannot redirect the next point.
name	Attribute name written to the device. An entry without a name, or whose register is missing or not a valid address, is skipped and logged once.
register	The address from the controller's Modbus Table CSV, in Modicon 5-digit convention (e.g. 35157). The driver strips the table prefix to the zero-based protocol address automatically; the 6-digit extended form (300001+) is accepted too. The format field decides whether it is read as an input register, discrete input, or coil.
format	float32 | float64 | uint32 | int32 | input_status | coil.
unit	Optional unit label.
scale	Optional numeric multiplier applied after read.
codes	Optional integer→string lookup (e.g., AMPS HP2 AC Output Status).

Commands

Name	Args	Description
get_status	—	Return last cached register values.
poll_now	—	Force an immediate poll cycle.
read_register	address, unit_id	One-off Modbus read.
read_input_registers	address, length, unit_id	Bulk input register read.
read_input / read_inputs	address, [length], unit_id	Discrete input read.
read_coil / read_coils	address, [length], unit_id	Coil read.
scan_unit_ids	start, end, timeout_per_unit, test_register	Probe a unit ID range.
get_diagnostics / clear_diagnostics / get_comm_log	—	Driver-level Modbus diagnostics.

Known limitations

• Read-only. The controller does not support Modbus Holding Registers (FC03), so setpoint writes are not possible over Modbus.
• Sentinel translation. 0xFFFFFFFF (NaN as float, -1 as int) means unknown and 999999999 means deprecated in the Cordex spec. Both are translated to null. A bare 0 is left as-is, since it is indistinguishable from a legitimate zero reading.
• Dynamic full data set. Full DC System / AMPS HP2 register addresses are not stable across installs — the controller assigns them as inventory changes.
• Single-master. Multiple unit IDs share one TCP connection and the driver flips slave ID per read group. Do not point a second Modbus master at the controller while this driver is polling.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Check
connection refused on 502	Modbus is disabled on the controller. Enable it under Controller > Configure Controller > Communications > Modbus.
Limited Data Set values are all null	byte_order is wrong. The CXC HP default is Least significant bytes first → little_endian.
Extra register map values look scrambled	byte_order mismatch, or the addresses were copied from a different install. Re-export from the live controller's Modbus Table CSV.
Connection alternates up/down	Polling rate is too aggressive. Raise polling_rate to 10000+ ms during heavy alarm activity.
Some values read null after firmware update	Inventory change may have shifted the dynamic register addresses. Re-export the Modbus Table CSV and update extra_register_map.

Related Documentation

• Modbus — generic Modbus device, scanner, and register browser
• Power Management — generic energy dashboard the derived DC power feeds
• Devices — device management (the Cordex HP is a single device with telemetry as device attributes; it creates no zones)