An encapsulating seal for an electrochemical cell stack provides sealing when individual cell seals fail and also provides increased insulation and protection for the stack and its components. The skimming according to the invention includes a support frame having a central opening and a mesh fabric or screen material attached to the support frame so as to extend over substantially the entire area of the central opening. A first set of pads is configured in a predetermined pattern on the bottom surface of a flexible substrate. The controller also internally manages the WWN table data.