On Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:03:18 -0400, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

When I READ the paragraph BEFORE your comment, it MADE perfect sense
to ME. Charging in SERIES is best done when the batteries are EQUAL in
BRAND, type and STATE of CHARGE.

I'd be WILLING to charge BATTERIES in PARALLEL since they all end up
at the SAME VOLTAGE.
Think about it - a "battery" is a string of cells in series.
Charging batteries in series puts the same amount of current through
each battery. Parallel charging is fraught with possibilities.
Maintenance charging of warehoused batteries is done with all kinds of
batteries, including different voltages and capacities, all connected
in series, charging at 2.2 volts per cell, more or less. The
precautions you state are mandatory for parallel charging, and almost
irrelevent for series charging.