Surface 3 charging issues

Anonymous

I'm sure the Surface 2 and other models suffered from this problem...

After getting my Surface 3 yesterday, I plugged it in as it was delivered with about 24% batter life. The little white light on the micro-USB charger than comes with the Surface lit up. I assumed all was well, and started the Windows Updates. It was taking a while so I left it and went to bed.

The next morning the Surface was off, and when I tried to switch it on the battery symbol appeared that indicates it had no juice. It was still plugged in to the charger and the plug was still lit.

I removed it a couple of times and eventually it must have started to charge as it allowed me to boot, and I could see it was charging.

However, whenever I plug it into any other USB port to charge it (such as on my PC), I get the "Plugged in, not charging" message).

I suspect a faulty micro-USB connector (a poor replacement for the old magnetic ones), but wanted to see if anyone elese was having trouble with either the supplied charger or charging from other USB ports.

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous

MA_905,

Thanks for the update and sorry for the delay in following up.

I am reaching out to find out if your issue is now resolved and if not, I would like for you to please give the two button shutdown a try.

Here’s how:

Step 1:	Press and hold the power button on your Surface for 30 seconds and then release it.
Step 2:	Press and hold the volume-up button and the power button at the same time for at least 15 seconds and then release both. <br> <br><br>The screen may flash the Surface logo, but continue holding the buttons down for at least 15 seconds.
Step 3:	After you release the buttons, wait 10 seconds.
Step 4:	Press and release the power button to turn your Surface back on.

Once done, please proceed to fully charge the device and let us know your outcome.

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Anonymous

what's more likely is that the USB ports that you've used can't provide enough power to charge the device.

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Barb Bowman 80,805 MVP Volunteer Moderator

On Wed, 22 Jul 2015 16:31:18 +0000, quadtek wrote:

>> This is a surface 3, not a pro3

take a look at

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/surface-wont-turn-on#shutdown

this applies to your Surface 3

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Barb

Windows Experience MVP

My Blog - http://digitalmediaphile.com/

Please mark as answered if this answers your question

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Barb Bowman 80,805 MVP Volunteer Moderator

did you try the solutions at https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/surface-wont-turn-on-battery-wont-charge?os=windows-10 ?

If yes, your best option is to go to a physical retail Microsoft Store if you are near one in the US, and if not near a store https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/contact-us

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Anonymous

I contacted MS and they helped me in this one. I had to do a current update. when this did not fix it I had to a a factory reset. then do the update battery life is now as expected.

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337 additional answers

Anonymous

2015-05-17T03:59:31+00:00

I purchased a new Surface 3 128GB/4GB model on launch day. Initial impressions are mixed but mostly positive so far. I discovered an interesting problem while using the Surface with PowerPoint yesterday. There seems to be a few oddities about how the battery is drained and charged. I think Adaptive Brightness being turned off makes a huge difference in how much power the surface is using to operate the device.

I had my device at 100% battery with Adaptive Brightness turned off, and AC power adapter plugged in while running PowerPoint to an HDMI monitor. After a few hours I noticed the battery had drained completely down to 4% even with the AC adapter connected. It seems the screen of the Surface 3 draws power faster than the battery can charge while the screen is on.

The machine never died or powered off but gave a Critical Battery Warning as soon as the cord was unplugged. I understand that Adaptive Brightness is turned on by default for a reason but it seems a little bit ridiculous that the Surface 3 can't even run PowerPoint while plugged into the power cord.

If you lower the screen brightness to about 50% and turn Adaptive Brightness on it will charge, very slowly. Went from about 27% to 33% in an hour. I hope this issue is addressed in a future firmware update or maybe offer replacing the Power Adaptors with a higher wattage charger? The Pro 1 and 2 used 48w, Pro 3 uses 36w, original RT used a 24w. So in comparison, 13w for the Surface 3 just does not seem to be enough to adequately charge the device while using it. I don't think the issue can be fixed sole by a Software/Firmware update since the charger seems to be underpowered.

I would love to hear if anyone else has had this problem, specifically with Adaptive Brightness off. It would truly be a shame if I am forced to choose between being able to charge my Surface or use the screen at full brightness. Any suggestions or workarounds are welcomed. Currently I am having to use a custom power plan just to charge the device if I am worried the machine will power off while it is presenting a PowerPoint deck.

That being said I am truly enjoying the device and would love to help get some of these little quirks ironed out so people can get the most enjoyment out of the Surface 3!
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