charliejuliett wrote:I think the Elcon charger would work without too much fuss
Yes, connecting it would be straight forward. My problem with this solution is that the BMS is not controlling the charger maximum current.
Some of the older Elcons had an "enable" input that was able to set the charger output to 0-100% with I think a 2-5 VDC control signal. It's not isolated from the battery, so it's awkward to use. But a relay or two with suitable resistors could tell it to drop the current back to say a few amps, or even half an amp. So when a single cell got too high in voltage, the charger could cut back and give the bypass resistors time to let the others catch up. The problem is getting that information reliably. Also, these old models are getting hard to come by, and you have to wonder if they will last well.
If you are able to get things going using the Elcon it would definitely be a more cost effective way to go.
More cost effective than a new charger, unless Mitsubishi drop the price substantially (as may even happen; see other posts). Not cheap compared to repairing the charger, but of course not everyone is set up to do repairs, even if the information is available here.
I don't believe its waterproof, so it may have to be mounted inside the vehicle or protected somehow. Good luck!
The Elcons are waterproof and designed to work in cars. But the newer models are poorly documented, and there are some horror stories about them.