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
    2016-08-14T18:38:23+00:00

    I have just finished going through an 'advanced replacement' thing with the US support. I am in the UK and cannot get through to them because they are closed during my working hours. Luckily, they were nice enough to help me and go through the replacement even though I am not in the US. Very helpful and happy. The agent's name was 'Jay'.

    I sent him the battery report after a brief discussion on what the issue was and he said immediately I needed a replacement device. I am still awaiting the transcript of the discussion in email form.

    IMPORTANT - HE SAID IT WAS A HARDWARE FAULT.

    He said mine was "one of the devices affected by this emerging issue."

    In fact, I think he said it was either definitely or obviously a hardware fault.

    Now awaiting a replacement unit. Unfortunately, they said that the warranty on the replacement runs alongside your initial warranty. In essence, there is no warranty on this replacement so I could in essence, run into the same issue again and be left stranded.

    Hopefully this doesn't affect my 'extended' warranty with John Lewis.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-08-14T18:06:07+00:00

    If you are still under warranty, exchange now. Do not wait. If in the US, go to a physical retail Microsoft Store.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-08-14T17:13:31+00:00

    I too do not have a dock. I do regret not getting one just for the additional USB connectors.

    The micro SD slot is terrible for additional storage, it unmounts all the time and I am constantly repairing the cards too as they constantly seem to corrupt. No they aren't cheap cards I'm using. Being able to use an external hard drive AND a mouse without having to have a powered USB hub trailing wires all over the place would be fantastic.

    Looking here, it does seem to be pretty much everyone, regardless of dock usage.

    Back to battery fun, I started doing the 'discharge to 50%' (doesn't take long) and recharge trick, trying to rebuild my battery. It's difficult trying to disconnect it immediately after it gets to 100% and I think I left it on charge all of yesterday. I used it VERY briefly last night and turned it off and put it down. Went to use it today and...

    It was down at 8%. I hadn't touched the beggar. Instantly made a report and found this...

    2016-08-14 01:11:30 Connected standby Battery 103 % 26,136 mWh
    01:11:30 Active Battery 103 % 26,136 mWh
    01:11:36 Connected standby Battery 103 % 26,136 mWh
    16:44:45 Active Battery 8 % 2,158 mWh
    16:44:45 Report generated Battery 8 % 2,158 mWh

    Anyone else spotted charging in excess of 100% on their reports or crazy reductions in power without any usage?

    Oh and I have just had a look and my hardware warranty expires next month.

    My Surface Pro 3 is less than a year old.  

    NAME X898289
    MANUFACTURER SIMPLO
    SERIAL NUMBER
    CHEMISTRY LION
    DESIGN CAPACITY 42,157 mWh
    FULL CHARGE CAPACITY 25,392 mWh
    CYCLE COUNT 401

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-08-14T13:43:32+00:00

    I use the docking station with my SP3 most of the time. Shame we can't create a survey in this topic to find the ratio of docking station users with this problem.

    I don't have a docking station and have always used the SP3 on the mains adapter. My SIMPLO batteries now show c7Wh.

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