M15x+coffee spill=black screen

My sister accidentally spilled coffee on her M15x(fortunately it was insured). She had taken it in to be looked at(required by insurer???/local authorized place???)and they basically told her it was toast.

I guess the insurer allowed her to keep the M15x....

She mentioned she had unplugged the unit, pulled the battery, and placed the laptop upside down on a towel immediately after the spill....it had not been touched in the last couple of months.

Anyway I decided to take a look at it, followed the YouTube tear-down video for dis-assembly. Cleaned all the noticeable spill(motherboard, cables, etc.)with distilled water/alcohol, let it dry for a few days, re-assembled and fired it up(hoping there wouldn't be a fire).

I immediately got lights and the sound of it spooling up.....but unfortunately a black screen. I then plugged an external monitor into the VGA port and I am able to get video that way(no bios info at start-up of course)....all else appears to be OK with the other components, with the exception of black screen(mentioned), no logo light on the cover(I assume there is supposed to be one?)and no microphone(camera appears to work though....tested with skype).

After doing some research here/elsewhere I attempted to go back in and check for loose wires, uncleaned spill areas, etc.....but after that, and re-seating everything, still black laptop LCD. Switched out the memory modules and tried different config's there....no luck.

So I guess my question is, what are the chances the problem lies with the LCD, or perhaps somethings popped on the motherboard? Can the LCD be tested?

Any suggestions appreciated, I've thought about simply buying a bare-bones replacement and swapping out parts...for lack of any other option.

Thanks....

 

yes swapping out parts is good idea but it could cost you.

 

Could be a vid card problem but as it was a spill something motherboard related is probably the cause. Where are you in the world. If in the UK or Europe I can recommend an excellent motherboard repair company that repaired my laptop within 24 hours (including shipping time!)

 

I'm located in the U.S.

One other thing I remember my sister telling me is that before the LCD went black....the screen went white and distorted. I also remember when cleaning the board there didn't appear to be any sign of(serious)spills near the area of the LCD/other connections....maybe zapped a video controller/component of some type...who knows.

The video(on extended LCD monitor)and everything else seems to work great right now, though I guess it still could be a video card issue as it relates to the laptop's display.

 

When you hook another monitor to it, then it works fine right? You can play games and what not with no problems?

 

Yes, works great....(guess it's my new desktop system).