Charging in Series
 

I have 5 pairs of SMC 5200mah 60c (2s) saddle packs.
If they are all identical and start at the exact same voltage, can I wire them all in series and charge as one big 10s pack? I won't be balance charging, just regular quick charge at 5A 12VDC

What are the risks involved and whats stopping me doing this with my regular 2s packs as well?

It seems that it is better to charge multiple packs in parallel rather than series using a parallel charging board and balance at the same time using higher amperage to meet the 1C requirement.

Any expertise would be greatly appreciated. Im pretty conservative when charging lipos and don't want to damage the cells or start a stinking smoke fire in my house.

Parallel is the way to go. Voltage remains the same.

In series you up the voltage so those 5 packs at full charge would be 42 volts.

+1. Charging packs in series unbalanced is particularly risky, as any difference in charge state (highly likely) can easily lead to overcharged packs. Charging in series with balancing can significantly increase charge time to accommodate the balancing, and requires very careful hook up.

Parallel is not without limitations either, ideally packs should be reasonably close in charge state, but seems to be the way to go. Either requires enough charger power and capability to make it worthwhile.

Cheers for the advice.
I will stay away from charging multiple packs in series.
Seeing as I can only go up to 10A on my charging setup, I don't think it is worth doing parallel either.

If in a hurry charge 2 packs at once, in parallel, 8A.
Not pushing charger to it's limit, faster than 1 at 5A, safe in parallel.

Even if cells were fairly different charge state, unlikely 1 would get more than 6A for short time.

For a couple hundred bucks you cab buy a Hitec x4, and do 4 batteries at once. I personally use a thunder power tp820cd only charges 2 batteries at a time but I can charge then at 20 amps and they charge real quick.