Regulated charge control

[NZ XR6]

The Mondeo was no longer starting as well on cool mornings, so I decided to replace the battery before it decided to strand me somewhere.

What I thought would be a simple job became a half day drama, started because Century NZ list the wrong battery for the MB diesel. For future reference, it takes a DIN 74, not DIN 65. Then the guy in the battery shop destroyed the battery terminal on the -ve cable, which are unobtanium apparently. So be careful when you change your battery!

Anyway, I now have a new Century Ultra High Performance battery fitted.

And then we come to the subject of this thread, which is the regulated charge control (RCC) system fitted to Mondeos, and other Euro Fords, and the subsequent requirement for silver calcium batteries.

Basically, RCC is a system that charges the battery during engine operating modes when it is the most efficient to do so. It's really a bit like the way hybrids work, in that the battery is allowed to discharge say during stop start traffic, but then recharges during deceleration.

But in order for this to work, the battery must be capable of recharging more rapidly than a conventional battery. This is why the Mondeos are fitted with silver calcium batteries at the factory.

Century make batteries that support RCC, which are labelled as Smart Drive. These are made in Australia, but this range doesn't include the DIN 74.

I'm not quite sure where this leaves me. If anyone can add anything to this subject, please post!

Edit: The Bosch S5 range is a silver alloy product, but is not available in the DIN 74 size.