Plugged in, not charging and if I unplug that AC adapter, it turns off

Anonymous
2017-01-23T01:46:36+00:00

I have a Surface Pro that is a little over 2 years old. About two weeks ago, the battery now reports "Plugged in, not charging" and seems stuck at 60%. I say seemed because if I unplug that AC adapter, it dies instantly. It also will die periodically while on the charger. I have two Microsoft AC adapters and neither of them seem to charge my device.

I've tried all the Microsoft suggestions for this state, but none of them made any difference. Is there a way to diagnose if this is a hardware problem, or is this a new artifact from the latest updates? (My device reports it is up to date.) I never had any battery issues before (lucky, I suppose), and I've treated my surface pretty carefully. I'll be more than disappointed if it's crapped out already.

I'll attach a battery report, but I don't think it tells me anything in particular.

Battery report

COMPUTER NAME ORION
SYSTEM PRODUCT NAME Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 3
BIOS 3.11.1550 06/30/2016
OS BUILD 14393.693.amd64fre.rs1_release.161220-1747
PLATFORM ROLE Slate
CONNECTED STANDBY Supported
REPORT TIME 2017-01-22 19:53:16

Installed batteries

Information about each currently installed battery

NAME X898289
MANUFACTURER SIMPLO
SERIAL NUMBER 1164122628
CHEMISTRY LION
DESIGN CAPACITY 42,157 mWh
FULL CHARGE CAPACITY 33,212 mWh
CYCLE COUNT 310

Recent usage

Power states over the last 3 days

2017-01-20 09:41:00 Active AC 60 % 19,851 mWh
09:44:00 Battery changed AC - -
09:44:00 Suspended - -
09:45:28 Battery changed AC 60 % 19,851 mWh
09:45:28 Active AC 60 % 19,851 mWh
09:45:48 Connected standby AC 60 % 19,851 mWh
09:45:49 Suspended 60 % 19,851 mWh
09:46:25 Connected standby AC 59 % 19,494 mWh
09:46:25 Active AC 59 % 19,494 mWh
2017-01-22 19:38:00 Suspended 59 % 19,494 mWh
19:38:45 Active AC 59 % 19,494 mWh
19:50:00 Report generated AC 59 % 19,494 mWh

Battery usage

Battery drains over the last 3 days

- - - - -

Usage history

History of system usage on AC and battery

2017-01-14 - - 4:18:11 -
2017-01-15 - - 23:59:59 -
2017-01-16 - - 23:59:59 -
2017-01-17 - - 23:59:59 -
2017-01-18 - - 23:59:59 -
2017-01-19 - - 23:59:59 -
2017-01-20 - - 23:57:53 -
2017-01-21 - - 23:59:59 -

Battery capacity history

Charge capacity history of the system's batteries

2017-01-14 33,212 mWh 42,157 mWh
2017-01-15 33,212 mWh 42,157 mWh
2017-01-16 33,212 mWh 42,157 mWh
2017-01-17 33,212 mWh 42,157 mWh
2017-01-18 33,212 mWh 42,157 mWh
2017-01-19 33,212 mWh 42,157 mWh
2017-01-20 33,212 mWh 42,157 mWh
2017-01-21 33,212 mWh 42,157 mWh

Battery life estimates

Battery life estimates based on observed drains

2017-01-14 - - - -
2017-01-15 - - - -
2017-01-16 - - - -
2017-01-17 - - - -
2017-01-18 - - - -
2017-01-19 - - - -
2017-01-20 - - - -
2017-01-21 - - - -

Current estimate of battery life based on all observed drains since OS install

Since OS install - - - -
Surface | Surface Pro | Display and screen

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-10-20T16:36:42+00:00

    Bring it to a Microsoft store, even if it's not under warranty.. 

    There is a Hardware or design flaw in some of them that the battery just simply does not charge any longer after a certain Firmware update that Microsoft pushed to it.. 

    Whether or not they will admit it, it is a known issue.. and has caused issues for a lot of us (Surface owners)

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-10-20T17:00:35+00:00

    JG

    JGWeeks replied on

    I opted for the free service from my local MS store.  They were clueless on the battery issues.  They kept my SP3 for 5 business days.  I had to call them to get a response.  Shockingly, the technician informed me that I had a battery issue and during

    the trouble-shooting, they had to erase all my data.  They offered me a discounted x-box with the purchase of a new SP4 for my trouble.  Then they further insulted me by offering to recover my data and put it on the new SP4 for an additional $1400.  I thought

    I was being punked...  Turns out the technician was for real...  When I stopped laughing, they offered me a $450 refurbished unit with a 60 day warranty.  Good Luck!

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-10-20T17:16:42+00:00

    JG

    JGWeeks replied on

    I opted for the free service from my local MS store.  They were clueless on the battery issues.  They kept my SP3 for 5 business days.  I had to call them to get a response.  Shockingly, the technician informed me that I had a battery issue and during

    the trouble-shooting, they had to erase all my data.  They offered me a discounted x-box with the purchase of a new SP4 for my trouble.  Then they further insulted me by offering to recover my data and put it on the new SP4 for an additional $1400.  I thought

    I was being punked...  Turns out the technician was for real...  When I stopped laughing, they offered me a $450 refurbished unit with a 60 day warranty.  Good Luck!

    I can tell you right now that I will NEVER again buy a Surface.  While my Surface Pro 3 has, for the most part, been a good machine I've had issues.  About 6 months after I purchased it I wound up having to get it replaced due to an update that was pushed down literally bricking it.  Of course I was made to take a refurbished replacement and that pissed me off.  I always take very good care of my devices and my SP3 was in PERFECT shape aside from being bricked - the refurbished model had minor marks on the housing and that just simply wasn't fair.  I was so angry about this and fought so hard in the store that it was close to the point where they were going to call the police.  Absurd, I should have been given a new one, period, end of story.  If I had broken it myself that's a different story but this was 100% Microsoft's fault!

    I've also been dealing with fan issues and of course this battery issue and frankly the way it's being addressed/resolved just simply sucks.  With the company the size of Microsoft you'd think they could do a better job of handling this as it's VERY CLEARLY a known HARDWARE issue that we're all stuck with and they just don't care.  Because of this situation alone I won't ever again spend the money on any Surface.

    This whole fiasco is going to wind up costing Microsoft in the long run, but hey, what do they really care?

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-10-20T17:21:31+00:00

    Bring it to a Microsoft store, even if it's not under warranty.. 

    There is a Hardware or design flaw in some of them that the battery just simply does not charge any longer after a certain Firmware update that Microsoft pushed to it.. 

    Whether or not they will admit it, it is a known issue.. and has caused issues for a lot of us (Surface owners) 

    I also tried this and pretty much dealt with "There isn't anything we can do.  Here is a Surface Pro 4 with a coupon." - This is not a useful solution.  I'm done with the Surface devices and will avoid ever owning one again.  Unacceptable, period.

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  5. Anonymous
    2017-10-20T17:24:48+00:00

    Sorry to hear about your troubles.  I feel your pain.  I went through the same thing about two years ago.  I have a SP3 with a Simplo battery, too.

    My SP3 works now, and I did not need any hardware changes, although, as MS was figuring it out, they also offered me the $450 (+/-) refurb unit for mine.  I didn't take it.  . . 

    Here is what I learned . . . 

    1)  It was a driver problem, not a battery problem.  In layman's terms, during a routine update, my surface 'forgot' what a full charge was, and would stop charging the battery when it reached a very low percentage.  As I recall, that was less than 10%.

    2)  The power supply that the SP3 comes with is NOT strong enough for the surface, when the surface is running at or near full capacity.  During those times, the surface will draw from the battery to compensate, then recharges the battery once your processor demand drops.

    These two facts conspired to drive me nuts.  I'd get 'battery' problems while I was plugged in. . . .

    Mine got fixed with a software update that 'reminded' my batter how to behave, and I then charged the battery fully so it could 'bridge' over the power deficit from the power pack.

    MS suggested that SP3 owners could get a SP4 power pack, which allegedly has a higher power output to help . . . I did not do this.

    My SP3 is working fine now, but I almost flung the thing more than once.  . . .

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