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
    2016-08-12T18:14:56+00:00

    Warranty exchanges being for refurb pieces, that's standard practice with notebooks/laptops as far as I am aware. As long as the exchanged piece has the right amount of battery, which you can test by running powercfg, why not just exchange and get it over with?

    Make sure you run Powercfg right there and then, and save it someplace safe. You should also try and see if they will extend the warranty to another year from the date of exchange.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-08-12T18:14:35+00:00

    The only information we have is that posted by Greg, see first page as it's pinned due to being voted "helpful", where he states they believe it can be corrected with a software/driver update.

    I purchased my SP3 from John Lewis in the UK and so have 3 years warranty, of which I'm about 18 months through, but am holding on to find out if it can be fixed by software because I also look after my devices and so do not want a refurbished replacement.  I also don't want to get that replacement only for Microsoft to then announce a refund/recall program IF they realise it can't be fixed with software.

    If the warranty you have is coming to an end then I'm not sure what I would do in your position.  Microsoft should be contacting people with unusable devices and treating those as special cases.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-08-12T18:01:17+00:00

     I think the bug will be fixed, but by the time the fix is applied, flat batteries that are charging to 144 mWh are irreparably damaged and the fix will remove the cause, but won't undo the damage.

    And what are you basing this on?

    The software that is measuring and estimating the battery capacity is lying.  Microsoft confirmed that.  But you have no idea what part it is lying about.  You're guessing the 144 mWh capacity part is correct when it is one of the most likely numbers to be in error.

    The iFixit teardown someone linked to revealed a fancy "fuel gauge" IC with a lot of black magic in it.  That is probably where the problem is.  Until there is more information, the FUD is not helping.

    The FUD is quite justified.

    The computers are not working and there has been no confirmed fix, only an unsubstantiated comment on this forum which the rest of Microsoft support seem unable to verify.

    People are speculating on the cause of the problem because there is no other reliable information.

    Microsoft have sold a product which has failed in an unreasonably short time period and doesn't perform as advertised. They obligated to make good such faults in a reasonable time period and IMHO their silence on the matter seems to indicate they are either unable to find a fix or are trying to avoid that obligation.

    Given that this problem has been reported on these forums for several months now people are quite justified in seeking remedies other than the fabled software fix and indeed quite justified in doubting that a software fix is actually possible.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-08-12T17:58:36+00:00

    Could someone please address my post? (approx. 6 posts back)

    Thank-you.

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