Surface Pro 4 Bulging Battery / Screen. 3 1/2 years old.

Anonymous
2019-06-30T14:34:09+00:00

So, like many others on this forum, we have a Surface Pro 4, in which the battery has decided to self-destruct, destroying a £1,700 machine.

The screen hasn't popped off, but the battery has swollen enough to prevent the hinge from opening as it should and for the glass on the front to be very distorted, and it registers random screen input, all the while running hotter than the central heating.

I've spoken to support. They unhelpfully told me that because my warranty is up, I would have to pay several hundred pounds (£333) to replace the machine with a refurbished unit. To me, this is completely unacceptable. These devices are clearly flawed by design. This issue is too wide spread for it to be a coincidence. The batteries used in these devices are obviously flawed, and when I suggested as such, Sean L, the person dealing with my case, stopped responding (A few days after that, I wrote to Microsoft's twitter support who confirmed that the case had been closed. Thanks Sean L.)

If the device is dangerous (as suggested by the agent who I spoke to on the phone in the first instance) and it does catch fire while we are away this summer, and it subsequently burns down a multi-million pound Cambridge University building? What then, Microsoft? You'll wish you'd just replaced it then, won't you.

Surface | Surface Pro | Power and battery

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-08-10T19:31:02+00:00

    I work for state government and our entire development team has Surface Pro 4 and out of the 6 that we have, 2 have batteries that are causing the screens to swell; one in particular today (making that 3) has totally separated at the hinge area. The applications that we run on the machine at one time are: 

    PhpStorm - up to 4 different projects (windows) opened

    Docker

    One Drive - with 365 license (All of the IT staff had to turn this off because the CPU is always 100% while doing development and the Surface is difficult to touch because of the heat)

    Outlook

    Firefox or Chrome for php, javascript debugging

    Microsoft Teams 

    That's pretty much all we run daily at a minimum and the surfaces are always hot. With OneDrive turned off CPU usage averages around 87% - 92% with PHPStorm having the highest CPU percentage with only 1 project open. Opening more project increases to close to 100% usage on a daily basis.

    We have tried to return them the moment we noticed the keyboard cover doesn't lay flat. But we were refused through Microsoft Support from returning them right when the screen started acting up. Now one by one our development team (working from home) have to travel to the office during COVID-19 crisis to grab and configure a desktop computer to take home for remote work.

    There are a lot of Surfaces at the State Surplus, I mean lots of them.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-08-10T18:17:10+00:00

    Interesting......April 8, 2018 the Department of Energy issued a complaint with Microsoft because of battery bulging in their Surface Pro 3 Tablets  https://opexshare.doe.gov/lesson.cfm/2018/4/5/20241/Microsoft-Surface-Pro-3-Bulging-Battery-Issue ;

    A Microsoft Surface Pro 3 tablet battery swelled causing the display screen to separate from the tablet casing. This is the second tablet discovered with this problem at the Hanford site. MSA identified 228 Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Tablets in use by DOE and DOE Contractors at Hanford. Preliminary information indicates the battery swelled due to over-charging and dislodged the screen from the casing. When contacted by MSA, Microsoft stated that they created a firmware update to mitigate the primary cause of the problem.

    This is the firmware update that Microsoft issued in September of 2018 called "The Battery Limit Load". Beginning with the Surface Pro 3 Microsoft also had the "Battery Smart Charging" which Microsoft states

    "Battery Smart Charging – Battery Smart Charging is a feature that helps protect your battery from the effects of charging patterns and high temperatures that may accelerate battery deterioration or lead to expansion. Battery Smart Charging is always active and engages automatically to limit battery charging capacity when it detects your device is plugged in for prolonged periods and/or used at elevated temperatures. Battery smart charging is automatically deactivated when the battery is discharged below 20%."

    Apparently none of these "fixes" worked which caused these batteries to swell or expand or any other definition you care to use. Microsoft knew about this issue a long time ago, much more then the 3 years they warranty these products and they knowingly lied to the Department of Energy that they fixed the issue with the firmware fix.

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-08-10T15:12:53+00:00

    Sorry, I wasn't commenting on your photos I was just trying to clarify to others like AA808 that the Surface Pro 4 does not have access through the back like those shown in your photos. It's funny you should bring up $550.00 for an outdated laptop, I managed to get them down to $450.00 but they wouldn't agree to sending me a Surface Pro 4 with an updated battery or at the very least one with a new battery so I asked about an exchange and discount for an updated model, specifically a Surface Pro 7 and what the response was blew my mind, quoted below ;

    "Today, you contacted

    us because you wanted to trade in the surface pro 4 and get an upgraded device. Unfortunately, we wouldn't be able to process this request since the exchange is a like for like. This means we could only give you another surface pro 4. Now, you can pay for the replacement unit and then trade it in for an upgraded device."

    What? You want me to give you $450.00 for a "refurbished" Surface Pro 4 then trade it in on a new Surface model? But Microsoft is only willing to pay me $100.00 for the "refurbished" Surface Pro 4! So instead of paying $999.99 for a Surface Pro 7 bundle they want me to spend an additional $350.00! The logic of this is just mind boggling.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-08-10T12:31:05+00:00

    I am in the same boat, Surface is exactly what I want and does everything I want it to do but, it is, as you say, a flawed product, of which Microsoft  was fully aware and of which they have completely washed their hands once its three years old.

    They will only sell you a replacement at an exorbitant price when these flaws surface (pun intended) and add insult to injury by offering you only a quarter of that amount as a part exchange if you want to replace with a newer model.

    I would only consider a new surface, or for that matter, another Microsoft product if they were to offer a fair trade in value on the defective Pro 4.

    My question is how can we initiate a dialogue with someone in Microsoft who has the ability to make these decisions? At the moment we are stuck in support hell where the CSR's can only sing from the hymn sheet they have been given. Its not their fault, they are only doing their jobs. We and Microsoft both know there is a problem and it seems to me Microsoft must step up to the plate and do something about it.

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-08-10T10:55:07+00:00

    CharlesHill4,

    Greetings!  Which device (photos) are you speaking of? If you are referring to my photos I never indicated that it was a Surface Pro 4. Mine is a Surface as is AA808 and our point is that all Surface computers seem to have this problem and Microsoft knew about it.  At this point, it appears that it doesn't matter if it's a Surface 1, 2, 3, or 4 but that they all have the same battery problem. I loved my surface but I'm not willing to spend another penny on a product that is known to have problems. To spend $550 for an outdated laptop that will only last a few years to me is just wasteful in more that one way.  But yes that is my way of thinking, others I'm sure will be willing to give MS more money because the Surface is nice, it just doesn't last very long.

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