Battery polarity reversal?

[Joshua Van Tol]

On Aug 30, 2004, at 1:50 AM, Brett Dikeman wrote:

> At 2:23 PM -0500 8/28/04, sdewitt at stx.rr.com wrote:
> I certainly hope the battery was not connected to the vehicle when you 
> did this, because if it was, you've most likely blown virtually every 
> electronic unit in the car.  Electrolytic capacitors are used 
> extensively in anything electronic, and they are nearly universally 
> intolerant of polarity reversal- they will eject the electrolyte 
> violently.
>
Yeah, that's true, but often automotive electronic modules are designed 
with a diode on the input of the power supply to prevent this very 
problem. I know because the modules we design at work (automotive) are 
designed this way, and it's a nearly universal requirement in the 
automotive world to do this. 10-20 years ago this was not the case 
though.