Surface Pro 3 LGC Battery Degradation

My original Surface 3 Pro had Simplo battery, it started having battery degradation problem since May 2016. I had been waiting for updates to fix the problem until battery capacity hit 272 mWh, and I couldn't wait any longer so I made an exchange on August 22nd, a few days before my warranty expired. The exchange experience at MS store was painless, although having a non-usable battery for a few months was very very frustrating.

The replacement unit has LG battery. I was happy, because I knew all the problems were from Simplo batteries. I thought I wouldn't have battery issue ever again. However, only a few days later, I was trying to take my Surface to the bedroom, it powered off immediately when I unplugged it from the power cord. I was shocked because the replacement unit was literally brand new, it only had 1 cycle count when I got it, and I had it less than 10 days. Later I plugged back in, the percentage stuck at 92%, and I unplugged it, it powered off. It acted like there was no battery at all.

I packed the Surface 3 Pro the next day, because looking at it made me so angry. Now I'm out of warranty, and I'm not sure the problem can be solved by exchanging to another one, what if a new update causes another problem? I'm still very pissed, how could a company like MS makes such mistakes and let customers suffer for so long? And no official apology thus far? Surface Pro 3 was an delicate and expensive machine, now it's a trouble maker, personally i've lost my faith in MS. I'll keep my Surface 3 Pro in its box, until the issue is totally solved. Who knows how long it's gonna take! Maybe a month, a year or forever?

carlcip said: "Seems to me that you have the same issue i have, where the design maximum is LESS than the device maximum charge..."

That could be the case, or it could simply be reporting that. But, since the day after the firmware update, not only is it giving me on average less than 2 hours charge when it was 4 or more before, it's reporting "XX%  available (plugged in, not charging)" all the time it's charging.

I feel like one of the lucky ones, at least able to use it away from the wall socket. But it means I'm lugging a deadweight around for a couple of hours unnecessarily.

I agree with you - i also feel like one of the lucky ones... Which is ridiculous when you think about it, that a battery that MS touts as able to hold a full charge for close to 9 hours after 120 charge cycle, can hold a charge for only about an hour and a half m... Like i said before, I'm convinced that MS will do absolutely nothing because too few ppl are having these problems... So the only thing that i and others who wish to use this as a mobile device can so is find external power sources that can charge it using either a surface to 12 volt cord or a straight up ac plug...... I've found a few options on Amazon but i would like to be able to confirm with someone from MS that they are safe to use - the problem is that MS will never speak to you! All you can do is call and reach someone from some foreign country who is reading off a script. . and generally tells you "oh, you have a hardware issue you can replace your device for a similar I've for 459 dollars"/..

2 hr 19 mins from a full charge... and this is if the device is doing nothing.  It's RIDICULOUS!!!!

And in just producing this report (Sorry the length caused an error when clicking submit so I cheated and used an image to get around it. :D) the battery level is already down to: 87% 1 hr 31 min remaining... Not really very usable.  I normally make heavy use of Visual Studio and VMware and I absolutely MUST leave the thing plugged in.  I do consider myself luck in that it doesn't just shut off as soon as it's unplugged though.

Here is my battery report...

This issue is almost certain a software issue in an update that has reconfigured a few things that involve charging and battery configuration. I have been troubleshooting this on my surface since the day the told me I had to spend 450 bucks to get another surface because my "hardware or battery failed".  I can tell you I have found several issues with the charging system software and it has me thinking that this was done "with knowledge" as I can isolate the battery from a surface that has not had the updates or firmware changes and compare it to one that has and see the logic of why it is acting the way it does. Getting close to the answer and can not wait to expose what actually happened.