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

2016-08-01T02:12:05+00:00

It could be a firmware issue. My battery history shows steady charge, right up until April, when it dramatically fell off. If I upgraded the firmware in April, that would explain it and negate the operating system.
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Anonymous

2016-08-01T01:36:48+00:00

Hey, I tried the same solution. Refreshed win 10 and reinstalled oroginal win8.1 default. No go. Same problem.

A far as software, im thinking they may mean more in the lines of firmware or bios updates or the sorts rsther than juat drivers.

I wonder if there is anyone out there, that tid not perform any firmware updates on their unit, that may have started the issue back in April or May. Since win10 updates itself it may be hard, but maybe the issue can be traced to a firmware or bios update that didnt take into account the Simplo brand batteries and their peculiar behavior.

I am really hopeful this can be worked out, as with a cord my surface seems castrated.

Hoping its the software.

Anyone out there with no firmware updates?
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Anonymous

2016-08-01T00:24:14+00:00

I contacted these attorneys and would suggest that others do the same. Unbelievable how long this has gone on and how poorly MS has handled this.

http://www.classlawdc.com/2016/07/26/migliaccio-rathod-llp-investigates-microsoft-surface-pro-3-battery-failures/

I have experienced the same situation as everyone here in this forum. Surface Pro 3 with SIMPLO battery. Full battery capacity in March 2016, warranty expired in March 2016, battery capacity started declining in April 2016 to the point where I now cannot use the tablet at all, much less as a portable. I have made 3 separate inquiries to MS Customer Support, twice being instructed to disable, uninstall, reinstall the battery driver (did not correct the issue either time), and the third being told to send it in for repair/replacement for $550 dollars. I had the call escalated and was told to expect a call or email from a supervisor or higher level agent. This last time was over a week ago and I have yet to receive that call or email. I am beyond unhappy and disappointed with Microsoft's failure to address this rampant, very much not "limited" issue. I had considered myself a loyal customer until this situation was handled the way it has been
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Anonymous

Same problem here, Greg. Glad to know you guys are on it. In looking at the date the degradation started - late May, seems to coincide with latest BIOS update-- perhaps that's the cause?

Information about each currently installed battery

NAME	X898289
MANUFACTURER	SIMPLO
SERIAL NUMBER	1161042436
CHEMISTRY	LION
DESIGN CAPACITY	42,157 mWh
FULL CHARGE CAPACITY	7,706 mWh
CYCLE COUNT	81

SYSTEM PRODUCT NAME	Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 3
BIOS	3.11.1450 05/27/2016
OS BUILD	10586.494.amd64fre.th2_release_sec.160630-1736
PLATFORM ROLE	Slate
CONNECTED STANDBY	Supported
REPORT TIME	2016-07-3119:52:48

Battery capacity history

Charge capacity history of the system's batteries

2015-12-20 - 2015-12-27	42,303 mWh	42,157 mWh
2015-12-27 - 2016-01-03	42,331 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-01-03 - 2016-01-10	42,348 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-01-10 - 2016-01-17	41,998 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-01-17 - 2016-01-24	41,807 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-01-24 - 2016-01-31	41,887 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-01-31 - 2016-02-07	41,889 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-02-07 - 2016-02-14	41,955 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-02-14 - 2016-02-21	42,059 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-02-21 - 2016-02-28	42,195 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-02-28 - 2016-03-13	42,290 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-03-13 - 2016-03-20	42,263 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-03-20 - 2016-03-27	42,280 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-03-27 - 2016-04-03	42,253 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-04-03 - 2016-04-10	42,210 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-04-10 - 2016-04-17	42,182 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-04-17 - 2016-04-24	42,173 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-04-24 - 2016-05-01	42,112 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-05-01 - 2016-05-08	42,112 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-05-08 - 2016-05-15	42,423 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-05-15 - 2016-05-22	42,502 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-05-22 - 2016-05-29	42,206 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-05-29 - 2016-06-05	37,603 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-06-05 - 2016-06-12	34,123 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-06-12 - 2016-06-19	30,421 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-06-19 - 2016-06-26	26,354 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-06-26 - 2016-07-03	22,837 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-07-03 - 2016-07-10	18,386 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-07-10 - 2016-07-17	14,290 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-07-18	11,803 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-07-19	11,803 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-07-20	11,601 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-07-21	10,269 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-07-22	9,857 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-07-23	9,733 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-07-24	8,907 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-07-25	8,907 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-07-26	8,907 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-07-27	8,907 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-07-28	8,907 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-07-29	8,028 mWh	42,157 mWh
2016-07-30	7,706 mWh	42,157 mWh

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