(AC) Rebalance charger recommendations?

Hello,

I have a weak bank in my Gen II (P3016), and mainly due to being short on money right now and given that I was planning on getting rid of the car in a few months anyway, I've decided to replace the modules in the questionable bank, and do a rebalance. I'm about 1/3 of the way through reading the 90-plus-page Gen II Prius Individual Battery Module Replacement thread, which is packed with great information.

I do have some questions about rebalance chargers though.

1. It seems like most people recommend the Hitec X4 or Thunder T6, since they can handle 4 modules at a time. However, searching for them online, it looks like both of them have been discontinued, or the X4 has been discontinued and the T6 is at least out of stock at most places. Does anyone have a recommendation for a similar charger that I can get new (and ideally, something I can get in a day or two as well)?
2. I've seen some people mentioning using multiple single-battery chargers, such as the Supermate DC6 or iMax B6. Those seem significantly easier to find, though what I've seen so far makes it look like the per-battery cost is about the same (the 4-battery models going for about $200USD, the 1-battery for about $50USD). Is there any benefit to using the multiple battery models? I'm not terribly familiar with the internal circuitry, do the 4 battery models provide a (for lack of a better technical term) more similar charge to all the batteries, or are they essentially just 4 separate chargers in the same physical enclosure?

Thanks for any advice or recommendations,
Jason

(Unfortunately, shipping time is a concern for me. I'm without a car until I get this battery sorted, so the quicker I can get a charger in my hands and start the cycles, the better.)

 

Does such a simple charger give similar results? This is an '05 with 250k miles on it and, as far as I know, the original pack. Since it looks like about the same cost as the hobby chargers, I'd definitely like something that's quicker, but not if it won't actually be much help for an old pack...

I'll get back to reading that thread this evening...

Thanks!

 

Ok, thanks, that was my main question/concern. I guess the grid chargers just seem so much simpler and easier that I couldn't imagine they would be anywhere near as good. So ok, cool!

I'm going to be buying two replacement Gen-II modules from a PC regular. I'm pulling the pack tomorrow (need the car minimally working today for about 3-4 miles to the grocery store and back) and plan on checking voltage on all the modules, checking all connections on the bus bars and sensors, and possibly load testing the modules in the "weak" block.

Good to know, thanks. It's certainly too late to catch *this* module in time, but maybe the next one.

On a similar note... everyone here seems to be crazy about the Mini VCI with Techstream (which I've found out everyone's getting as pirated Toyota software). Does Techstream really do so much more than any other software can, or is it just a matter of convenience? I don't use Windows, so it's likely not going to really work for me...