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.

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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

2015-06-06T13:51:42+00:00

Ok,

Now that is some serious testing. I'm pretty sure that I didn't understand a lot of it.

So if I just have the charger and the cable that came with the Surface, the add on keyboard, an External monitor connected to the mini display port, and an external USB drive, is that too much for the Surface to handle?

Do I need to unplug something in order to get rid of the Plugged in, Not Charging message?

Thank you for taking the time to test and share your results!

Actually, this is one of my standard configurations. When camping in the rv, I have and external USB drive attached and a TV via displayport to hdmi adapter. However, I do have the surface set to turn off the internal monitor when the case (keyboard) is closed.

I double checked last night and yes, I get connected and charging. At some point I turn off the TV and leave the surface to its own devices - going to sleep/hibernating - and in the morning it is fully charged.

If the display is left on, esp. at higher brightnesses, I wouldn't be too surprised at this point if the battery continued to discharge.

Based on my experiences as related earlier in this thread, along with others experiments, I tend to agree that the issues have to do with the voltage drop across the wire along with the power supplied by the charging device. I have yet to have a problem using the supplied charger and cable, though others have.

Perhaps this can be tweaked by MS, perhaps not. I thought about returning it for this reason but realize that I am enjoying too much. As long as I have a couple of chargers it will work with, it is not ideal, and certainly doesn't live up to the advertising claims, but it is so good at other things that I shall stick with it and see if MS comes up with a fix.

Besides, I am passed the return date for Best Buy!
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