What is wrong with Idling

[DWBOX2000]

I guess I have two questions. I went for a winter ride on Saturday before the snow came. Well it's here. I went to put my battery trickler (maintainer) and put on backwards. I was in a rush. Probably on for less than a minute. Now the trickler has a light that goes red when this happens, which it was red. So I unplugged and put back on again and the light is yellow which just means it is charging. Always does this when i don't put on for a few days. It eventually turns green. I guess my first question is what is the likely hood that i damaged anything electronic (Battery is new but not too worried if that needs to be replaced. How about the other stuff?

Now I turned the key just to see what lit (without turning over) and everything looks fine. I guess I won't know if I did any damage until I actually start. Now I can't (okay I wont) drive because there is a lot of snow outside. What is the problem with just starting and letting run until it reaches operating temperature?

Suggestions?
Thanks.

[Qckslvr]

I doubt there was any damage at all. Most chargers, and trickle charges have reverse polarity protection. If they didn't there would have been smoke, and possible fire almost immediately (seen it in our own shop a couple of times).

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by DWBOX2000

What is the problem with just starting and letting run until it reaches operating temperature?

Running the car without driving it (for at least 20-30 min.) is one of the worst things you can do to the oil while the car is sitting over the winter.

[mikefocke]

And why is that? Because the mixture is enriched at startup to actually send unburnt gas into the cats to help them warm (or hot) up to operating temperatures. So the least number of starts results in the least amount of gas sprayed onto the cylinder walls which dilutes the effectiveness of the oil on the cylinder walls which impacts the wear on the cylinder walls.

Use the maintainer. Drive it gently till warm. Then long and eventually relatively hard.

[DoninDel]

Originally Posted by Qckslvr

I doubt there was any damage at all. Most chargers, and trickle charges have reverse polarity protection. If they didn't there would have been smoke, and possible fire almost immediately (seen it in our own shop a couple of times).

Agree. That's why red light came on - it detected polarity was reversed.
You should be fine.

[jdiba]

Very helpful explanation Mike !

[10/10ths]

...+1