Battery connected the wrong way - Fatal Beginners mistake

[aandu]

I did it... 

I connected the battery terminals the wrong way. -Ve to +Ve and vice versa. 

I remember noting down the battery terminal ends before putting them into the C5. But after I lifted the battery, the ends magically switched places!

Now I know the importance of Karl's C5 wiring kit


Luckily, I never switched the ignition on (Misplaced the keys inside the house and hence had to go back and fetch it); But in the meantime my brother pedalled it around without the keys.
There was a faint smoky smell. Not sure if that was from the wrong wiring on C5 'cos the smell did linger even after I was pretty far away from the C5.

Question is how could the wiring work without the ignition being on?

I saw the mistake and rewired it. But the POD wont turn on and neither does the motor! The head & tail lights work. The motor works when connected directly to the battery.

I opened the lid on the control box (But couldn't open the entire control box. one half is sealed. How can I open it?). But of what I saw couldn't find anything burnt or smoked.

Any troubleshooting tips?

[Karl]

Don't be too hard on yerself matie, this isn't necessarily a beginners mistake...it took me two years before I managed to fry one..

I suspect there's also a few more out there who could confess to smokin' a control box or two 

For the sake of a small postage charge I'd be tempted to send your 'box and pod to Martin for a bench test. At least that way you'll know how bad (or not) the damage is. We also have a few control boxes and pods available if needed.

http://c5alive.co.uk/ecommerce/product_info.php?cPath=2&products_id=36&osCsid=3c8a9c61b69be3782ad5c03540ed2da7

[Wizbat]

Youmay have had the handbrake on, I did that at the weekend and once i was about half a mile from home I thought 'Oh hell i,m on fire' and headed back, as I got into the village again I braked and felt the little lever click then then everything started to get faster!!!
Doh!!!

[DonkeySpank]

I did this not too long ago, end of last Summer I think, and I got PRECISELY the same symptoms - no motor, no pod lights, but motor ran fine when I connected it directly to the battery and the front/rear lights worked well.

I seem to recall it was a resistor or something fairly simple on the PCB inside the control box?