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

2015-08-12T17:20:53+00:00

**RESOLVED**

Problem: Surface 3 plugged in but not charging, with "Not Charging" message displayed.

Solution: Used a different MIRCO B USB cable

Details:

Using a different MICRO B USB cable along with the same power block that came with the Surface 3 solved my problem. The original MS cable fit sloppy, but the white light would come on, and the Surface would recognize it, so it seemed probable that the cable was not the problem, also you would think if it was the cable you could wiggle it around and get a connection some of the time... WRONG. I used another MICRO B USB cable I had laying around with the same MS power block and it worked like a charm 100% of the time. The non-MS MICRO B USB cable FIT LIKE A GLOVE, it snapped in with a solid, tight fit.

MICRO B USB cables are very popular. Some of the following devices use them: Samsung phones, Amazon tablets, PlayStation controllers (for charging), GPS devices, and many more. Chances are you have a couple laying around, and certainly family and friends have a couple.

You may need to try more than one, but is worth the effort. I will not try to get a replacement from MS because their cable is worthless. It fits terrible and the solid white light tells you nothing. The standard is a "amber" light for not fully charged, and "green" for fully charged. The solid white lets you know you have power, but that isn't doing any of us much good since it still doesn't charge the device :/

Theory - I believe the bad cable design along with the awkward location/angle of the port causes a breakdown of the pins inside the MICRO B USB cable. Not everyone experiences it because some people probably are gentler than others when inserting the cable. By using a different cable that has a tight fit, all of the pins are hitting their connections.

Using non-MS MICRO B USB CABLE you can see Surface 3 charging

USING MS SUPPLIED MICRO B USB CABLE you can see the Surface is NOT charging

One last note. I said this worked 100% of the time, but even using the non-MS cable I will still receive a "Not charging" message periodically, but it only lasts a couple of seconds and then disappears. I will update if things change.
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