My lipos are rated for a 5c charge rate but I have always just done 1c. Is charging at 5c worse for the battery? Will 5c charge it faster?

You can charge some LiPo at 5C if they are rated for it, it will charge it faster, and it may not damage it. The main risk of faster charging is, if the battery is damaged or unhealthy, faster charging is much more likely to cause it to overheat and eventually explode.

There was a great thead on the forum explaining why LiPo set on fire:

http://intofpv.com/t-what-can-cause-lipo-battery-fire

I charge my packs at 2C, have done so forever, never had an issue and the batteries never even get warm.  Takes about 20 minutes at that rate, even when parallel charging 4 packs at once.  I could go higher but would need a charger and power supply capable of more amps and I'm fine with 20 minutes.  

I know the 1C rate is common practice among many people including some friends of mine, and is repeated over and over by manufacturers that build and sell packs.  What people don't remember is where/why the recommended 1C rate came from.  The 1C rate was the recommended rate back in the day when lipo packs came without a balance plug, and no one had yet made a balance charger.  You had to manually check and balance your packs every few flights.  The general consensus at the time was the 1C rate was safe and not enough amperage to cause a cell to go into thermal runaway if the voltages didn't quite match up.  It didn't take long for the balance charger to be invented, but very few people bothered to rethink the charging rate.  I think Hyperion is one of the few that say you can charge at 5C, and they were at the forefront of lipo battery and charger technology well over a decade ago.

(23-Sep-2018, 02:57 AM)Sugs Wrote: I think Hyperion is one of the few that say you can charge at 5C, and they were at the forefront of lipo battery and charger technology well over a decade ago.

Amen....And Hyperion is still the leader in charger tech....batteries....not so sure.

(23-Sep-2018, 03:52 AM)Krohsis Wrote: Amen....And Hyperion is still the leader in charger tech....batteries....not so sure.

leader in charger tech? Not so sure, the only charger i got from them was faulty and they failed to address the issue

most of brand recommend that charge at 1C, It's more healthy to lipo, of course, charge at 5c it does faster, also is safe, but it's not really healthy.