Surface Pro 3 battery degradation

Anonymous

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.

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Anonymous

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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1,459 additional answers

Anonymous

2016-08-04T00:41:55+00:00

My battery output shows 100% charged with 1 hour of battery life remaining. But after the device is unplugged in minutes the charge quickly goes from 100% to 60% with 30 minutes of battery life remaining and within a few more minutes it goes to 40% of battery life with 10 minutes of battery life remaining. The puzzling thing is the device says the battery is 100% charged but at 100% only 1 hour of battery life registers then the battery actually dies in minutes.

What a piece of junk.

Run battery report. 100% of 1000 mWhr means nothing
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Anonymous

2016-08-03T23:27:14+00:00

I know that many of the people (maybe 98%?) reporting the issue have a specific battery name, X898289. I got my SP3 in November of 2015 and it has a different name. Maybe it's a batch thing? Mine's been okay so far, too... knock on wood.
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Anonymous

2016-08-03T23:25:24+00:00

Well i have to say things have gotten worse. I'm writing this from my phone because my SP3 can't even get past boot up without dying even when connected. I disconnected all extraneous devices, disabled the wifi, and lowered the screen brightness and it's still not enough. When it does manage to make it to the desktop screen the battery reads "0% available, plugged in, not charging." I can't connect to the internet without it shutting down let alone go through the file explorer as the slightest bit of activity is enough to make it go out. No more battery reports! The last battery report I made showed a capacity of 144 mWh. I assume it's gone down. Again. If this isn't rock bottom, it's nearly there.

Word of advice to everyone else: back up everything while you still can and prepare a contingency plan. If you thought things couldn't get worse, well i have bad news for you. Better prepare now before you regret putting your faith into waiting for Microsoft. I tried to be patient and all it's gotten me is a glorified brick that sometimes lights up when connected to a power outlet.
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Anonymous

2016-08-03T22:21:41+00:00

to those that recommended i go to page one ....and read most helpful reply...

I have!

My request is for all of us here to be kept in the loop............even if having issues but still working to find a resolution......but 8 days since and NOTHING

throw us a bone MS please
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