Surface 4 Pro screen bulging at lower left edge and separated from the frame

I have been the victim of bulged batteries in 3, yes 3 Surface Books. The first time was about 3 years ago in my 1 TB super spec'd out SB1. I received a replacement at no charge (but great inconvenience). Last spring, in the middle of the lockdown, my replacement 1TB bulged again - Microsoft was unreachable. I bought my wife a new Samsung laptop and took over her 500 GB SB1. Shortly after that, the screen on that one bulged too.

I talked to lawyers about a possible class action suit, armed with all these emails. Two law firms concluded that with the arbitration agreement and smart Microsoft lawyers, all I could do was go to arbitration and hope for the best. I called Microsoft to see what they could do - they got me a refurbished SB1 500 TB replacement for $500.

But now the interesting part. Shortly after getting the replacement, I found the following URL's (google for more if desired) showing how to limit the smaller battery in the clipboard to 50% state of charge. The bigger battery is in the keyboard unit, so I still get over 90% state of charge available.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/battery-limit#:~:text=Mode%20to%20On.-,Enabling%20battery%20limit%20on%20Surface%20Go%20and%20Surface%20Go%202,set%20Battery%20Limit%20to%20Enabled.

https://surfacetip.com/enable-battery-limit-feature-on-surface-devices/

What was different in my application than my wife's is that I have a Surface docking station, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to stay with Surface. It is always plugged into AC, with the batteries staying at 100% state of charge. I am an electrical engineer, with experience with automotive lithium batteries before I retired. Being fully charged stresses a battery. I suspect with the clipboard battery being limited in size, Microsoft pushed the limits of charge to get a longer battery life in clipboard mode. A similar situation exists on the Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car. There have been 5 battery fires due to a small number of defective batteries. As an interim recall, GM is limiting the Bolt EV battery to 90% state of charge until a better diagnostic and fix can be found.

With the clipboard battery limited to 50% state of charge, I am quite confident I am finally rid of the bulged screen / defective battery issue. **I wish Microsoft had recognized the problem earlier, and like the auto industry, had sent notifications and initiated a recall. It could have simply been to limite the clipboard battery to 50% as in the URL's above. Very disappointed in Microsoft for this.**Maybe at some point, like the auto industry (reference Tesla display screens all failing as each trip "eats away at the total capacity of the the 8GB eMMC NAND flash memory chip onboard the NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor that powers the [Tesla] displays."), I hope Microsoft will issue a recall and reimburse those who have already been affected, but don't hold your breath.

I have the same issue of my Surface 4 Pro with a gap on the left side bulging out on the left side.  Is there any fix or replacement.  I am quite worried that it will cause harm to continue to use.  

Has there been any new updates.  With the current situation, I can not afford a new computer based on a faulty function on the computer and no fault of my own.

The best I found if u want to repair it estimate:

Replace batteries  (it is a dual plastic bag set) w same 8hrs (note: new surfaces claim 12 hours)

clean motherboard bc corrosion underneath due to leaky battery (swelling will do this)

replace screen bc after budge it cant be reattached wo breakage. (surface 4 has an unusually thin screen with Gorilla Glass 4)

$180 w 1 year warranty, 2 b-day turnaround if no corrosion, 3-4 if there is.

This is from a 1 man cell and tablet repair shop in Manhattan, NYC.  I suspect others can do it too. The chain repair shops are much more expensive than this.  I suppose you can then try to send the bill to MS or arbitration or small claims court.  Since a lawyers time is in the hundreds per hour, MS might just want to pay it.  It likely that your own time, pain and suffering, inconvenience, etc wont be compensated. 

But why continue with this POS - switch to any other brand.

nope.

Me to law firm that did surface 3 battery:

Microsoft Surface Pro 3, 4 and laptop can have swelling battery resulting in an open case, and rendering it very unsafe to use, even if it can be, bc of high fire and explosion potential. Frequently this is preceded by severe screen flicker. Because my Surface Pro 4,  brought 2016 is a few months out of any warranty, Microsoft's remedy is to offer me a $600 upgrade to a refurbished model 5 (same is available on Amazon for $350).  Online, some have reported no question asked replacement. Google "surface pro 3 4  screen battery" for many other reports. Also see several news articles. One suggested they rushed it out. Please advise.

Page: http://www.classlawdc.com/defe

Ans:

Thank you for your email. Our involvement with the Surface Pro 4 case ended with Microsoft's launch of a replacement program for affected devices. You should be able to find more information on the replacement program in the following link: https://support.microsoft.com/

Regarding the battery swell--or any problem related to the Surface--a case would have to be brought through arbitration; that is, as an individual. Everyone would have to bring their claim as an individual, not as a collective. Since we are a class action firm, we don't tend to focus on arbitration proceedings.

Migliaccio & Rathod LLP

412 H St. NE, Suite 302

Washington D.C. 20002

Office: (202) 470-3520

Fax: (202) 800-2730

www.classlawdc.com

So I tried.  Good luck with this POS.

Surface 4 Pro screen bulging at right edge and separated from the frame