Surface Pro 3 battery degradation

Anonymous
2016-05-11T07:37:37+00:00

I've been using Microsoft Surface Pro 3 for a year, and shortly after the warranty expired I noticed my Surface Pro 3 can only last about 1-2 hours after a full charge. At first I thought this was a problem with background process draining the battery so I disabled everything running in the background. It didn't helped. Then I found out about the powercfg utility and run powercfg /batteryreport on it, and this was the result:

A full charge capacity has degraded by over 80% in just few weeks and continue degrading. I tried to "recalibrate" the battery by doing full charge then full drain multiple times, and it didn't helped. Talk with Microsoft via chat support and they insist this was a software problem and reinstalled the driver and asked me to wait few days to see if things improve. Not only it didn't improved, but now my Surface can only last 30 minutes.

Few days after chat (today), I called Microsoft support and they were being extremely unhelpful. Insist that this was a software problem (which the chat support person already did) and it's "perfectly normal" for battery capacity to degrade. I insist that I've already done the software "fixes" and it didn't work and tell them this is definitely hardware problem, but the person on the phone tell me there's nothing I could do except to order the out of warranty exchange (which cost about $560 in my local currency). 

Is there anything else I should do? My country has no Microsoft Store which I could take the machine for them to take a look. Phone/online support were the only option, and none of them could understand the issue.

Surface | Surface Pro | Power and battery

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Anonymous
2016-07-26T21:31:16+00:00

Hello everyone,

Thanks for your continued patience here. We have now completed our testing of the update and it has passed our quality assurance process.

The update, “System Firmware Update - 8/29/2016”, is now available to install from Windows Update.

Before installing this update, ensure that your Surface Pro 3 is plugged directly in to AC power using the standard AC power adapter (do not use the Surface Docking Station), disconnect any USB devices or external monitors, and check that Windows shows a 40% charge or greater when you hover over the icon in the taskbar before you begin.

Once you install the update, please select Restart now (do not shutdown). After your Surface restarts, please manually restart it a second time to complete the process. For more information, please see our Surface Pro 3 Battery FAQ article.

If you’re having trouble charging your Surface, you get a low-battery error, or your Surface turns off when you unplug it, the steps in our Surface battery won’t charge article can help you pinpoint the problem. Should you need any further assistance, please contact us. 

Thanks again.

Greg

Updated 8/29/16.

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-01-12T21:28:17+00:00

    i have the same problem. been ringing the support coz i thought it was a problem with the update but seems not! no matter how i update my surface it doesnt solve my problem. weeks ago my battery would last 2 hours. now, barely an hour. just after the warranty expired days ago. will not suggest this product to any friends.

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-01-09T15:34:42+00:00

    The only difference I have is that is is stuck "88%, plugged in, not charging". Same exact thing - if you bump magnetic plug, it is like pulling the battery out. Grrrr. Happened only a couple months after warranty expired. Installed the firmware upgrade, upgraded from 8.1 to Windows 10 - nothing. Tried completely wiping/reformatting/restore to factory settings, but now every time I try to do any upgrades, it flashes “Surface” then “Preparing Automatic Repair” then light blue screen of death “:-( your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. We’re just collecting some error info, and then we’ll restart for you.” Then it cycles back to the black screen “Surface . . . Preparing Automatic Repair” and stays in a loop until hold down power button.

    Finally got it to a point where it will run, but won't update? Wasted hours.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-01-09T07:18:02+00:00

    I have a SP3 with a SIMPLO Battery that has some issues.

    It refuses to charge nor discharge (stuck at 54%, plugged in, not charging) and the Surface doesn't power up without AC connected. If it has AC connected, it starts up, but the moment i take out AC it turns off immediately.

    Does anyone this issue?

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-01-06T21:04:45+00:00

    Seriously MS is just unreliable :( They charged me $450 for their mistake and to cover their fault :(

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