Need help with -possibly dead- Dell Inspiron 8200

The battery died a few months ago and since the notebook was only used for surfing the web, kept using it with AC Adapter. One day, when my father was using it, it died. Now when I try to power it, the green light comes up but nothing else happens (no fans spinning, no display on the LCD i.e. it's not booting). I have dismantled the notebook trying to look for a visibly faulty/burnt piece of hardware but couldn't see any.

Here is the funny thing, after I start it up and the green light is on for a couple of minutes the heatpipe that transfers the heat from the cpu to the fans gets hot which means that the cpu is working as it's generating heat (hot to the touch). Does this mean the problem might be with the CMOS battery or the BIOS chip or should I try a new AC Adapter or buy new battery to see if it's a power related problem ? I certainly hope it's not a dead mobo.

ps : There is a possibility that the problem arises from a power surge as there was a storm on the day this notebook "died" but I can't confirm it because my father was using it at the time.

 

Try plugging a monitor into it, you may just have a faulty LCD

 

Just tried that, didn't work. Why is the CPU getting warm if the system is not booting and believe me it's not booting (no hdd noise or anything like that), as I have mentioned before I have dismantled the notebook and put everything back together in case it was a loose cable or connector somewhere? Would the system act like this if the bios was gone and/or the CMOS battery was dead. I'm concerned that I might have to replace the motherboard in which case I'm better off selling this for parts.

 

I'd check the power adapter first. Go to a store and try it before you buy, no point of wasting money Had a similar issue with my old Inspiron. Buying a new power adapter got the computer going, unfortunately something burned on the motherboard and now the AC adapter is not recognized by the bios, therefore it can't charge the battery, and the processor always operates at the lowest clock settings. The laptop is usable but irritating. I was told at Dell, that the only solution is to replace the motherboard. I decided to buy a new laptop - lol. If you check the official Dell forums seems a bunch of Inspiron 8XXX users are having the same issue.

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll look through the Dell forums and try another AC adapter as soon as I can get my hands around one. I don't want to take this notebook to the Dell service center here in Ankara, Turkey because I know I'll end up paying almost as much as the cost of buying this notebook used. It's gonna be a sad time if I have to let this notebook go as it is serves me better than many newer notebooks under Linux and has a decent UXGA display which is still in good condition.

 

Clearly the battery can't hold a charge anymore. The heat may just be from the adapter heating up, but in order to actually power up the notebook, you might just need a replacement battery.

 

There is no battery on the notebook, that died a couple months ago but it was working fine with the AC Adapter unit until one day it decided to die. The heat has to be coming from the processor, I know this because I touched the heatpipe of the processor cooling unit after I removed the plastic under the display. (The heatpipe that transfers the heat from the processor is right there) The green power LED had been on for a couple minutes when I touched the heatpipe and the heat kept increasing with time. So, the processor had to be releasing heat.

 

SOLVED, took apart all components and put them back together and voila.