Hi,

Hope you can all help me out. I couple weeks back my Macbook fell & a cup of water got spilled on it. It got both the screen & keyboard wet.

I got the unit turned off and took the keyboard off to dry out the insides. The next day it booted up with no problem except the backlight is not working on the screen. If I hook up an external monitor the computer functions fine.

In reading through the forum here and some other pages it sounded like the inverter card was bad.

I purchased a new inverter card from PowerBookMedic and installed it last week but still get the dark screen.

What do you suggest be my next step in diagnosing the problem. I'm not opposed to buying a new display for it but was hoping there was a way to test before spending the $$.

Thanks for reading about my stupidity.

It's a A1226 model with the anti-glare screen.

Did you see any water damage inside when you installed the inverter? If you are getting an image on the screen but just no backlight it is typically the inverter. With the A1226 model, however, those are LED screens where the backlight functions a little differently. Backlight issues on those can be the magsafe board. If you aren't getting an image at all, that is typically the LCD itself or worst case scenario the logic board, but given it works externally that is less likely.

I did not notice any damage or water stains inside the upper case.

I can see an image on the LCD if I put it in bright light or use a flashlight.

I'll open it all up again to check for any signs of damage.

I'd probably try a new magsafe board next then.

I took it all apart again and double checked for any signs of water damage of which I did not see any.

I did notice that when I plugged the charger in today the green light on the mag-safe plug was a dim green instead of bright green. Could that be another sign that the mag-safe board could be bad?

Looks like I'll be ordering up the mag-safe board.

Got a different magsafe board today and looks like it is working again. I have a couple small bright spots on the left side of the screen so I may of done some damage to the LCD too. Not sure if the magsafe board could be causing it or not but for now I'll just keep my eye on it to see if it changes.

Thanks for the help & suggestions.

Hi again,

Well my Macbook was working fine for a few months and yesterday morning I had a new problem. My daughter was watching a movie in the morning and everything was fine. When I turned it on later the boot-up screen is lit and when I got the log-in screen it is dark again.

The mag-safe board I bought was a used one since I couldn't find a new one in stock at the time. Could it have failed or does this sound like a new issue?

Edit added Monday 9/5
Started it up this morning to take another look and I have a screen that is lit with bright & dark bands. They are most distinct at the bottom of the screen and even out towards the top. The brightness control still works and also the keyboard illumination if it matters.

sounds like it is probably an LCD issue this time.

or PRAM just need to be reset (hold option+command+P+R during startup)