Pilot Cell

[dapago]

Can somebody explain what is a pilot cell for a bank?

Thanks.

[Vic]

Hi dapago,

Primarily,  for Flooded batteries,   a Pilot Cell,  or several are chosen that will be used as a quick way to get a fairly accurate snapshot of the SOC of a battery bank.

Often,  a Pilot Cell is the lowest SG cell or,  perhaps several cells which generally have the lowest SGs of the bank.

IMO, if one has several battery strings in parallel,  there should be a Pilot Cell (minimum) in each battery string.

So one can measure one or two cells to get a quick read of SGs.

Using Pilot cells does is not a substitute for measuring the SG of every cell (and recording this data in your battery Logbook).

Some say that it is a good idea to change which cells are the Pilot cells,  every year or so,  but I've never done that.

Does this answer the question?

Vic

[dapago]

Hello Vic.
As always with your answers, yes it does!
Thanks so much