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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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.

Was this answer helpful?

100+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

1,459 additional answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2016-07-20T05:50:07+00:00

    Add me to the list. Simplo battery full charge capacity less than 50% of original after just over 1 year.

    Yes I expect battery degradation but not to this extent!

    DESIGN CAPACITY 42,157 mWh
    FULL CHARGE CAPACITY 19,608 mWh
    CYCLE COUNT 182

     That's not many cycles for >50% degradation!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2016-07-20T03:42:53+00:00

    I had the same experience, no charge for the call to customer service, but $450 for a replacement.  Still, I'd recommend calling, might not be a bad idea to get a case number and give Microsoft an idea of the number of people that are experiencing the same problem.  Really wish I had gotten one of the LGC batteries - those seem to be pretty solid.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2016-07-20T03:00:24+00:00

    I haven't been able to boot up for a week now. I have to resort to buying a new laptop ( a HP btw...sick of this SP3 battery issue). I think if we were sold a defective part, Microsoft should own up to it instead of asking us to pay for the repairs. 

    NAME X898289
    MANUFACTURER SIMPLO
    SERIAL NUMBER 1163074052
    CHEMISTRY LION
    DESIGN CAPACITY 42,157 mWh
    FULL CHARGE CAPACITY 1,254 mWh
    CYCLE COUNT 127

    Recent usage

    Power states over the last 3 days

    2016-07-1423:08:47 Active AC 2 % 23 mWh
    23:30:00 Report generated AC 73 % 912 mWh

    Battery usage

    Battery drains over the last 3 days

    - - - - -

    Usage history

    History of system usage on AC and battery

    2015-12-06 - 2015-12-13 1:01:57 11:17:33 148:42:57 2:06:21
    2015-12-13 - 2015-12-20 7:20:57 6:29:41 143:18:53 8:38:57
    2015-12-20 - 2015-12-27 2:24:08 4:42:42 154:59:25 0:00:43
    2015-12-27 - 2016-01-03 0:57:29 10:14:07 156:26:27 0:00:05
    2016-01-03 - 2016-01-10 0:51:07 1:15:39 165:41:13 -
    2016-01-10 - 2016-01-17 1:58:24 14:54:43 156:52:43 0:07:13
    2016-01-17 - 2016-01-24 1:28:28 11:58:30 152:50:16 0:02:41
    2016-01-24 - 2016-01-31 0:06:38 - 165:43:02 0:32:48
    2016-01-31 - 2016-02-07 0:54:57 4:12:21 164:08:27 -
    2016-02-07 - 2016-02-14 0:00:26 - 167:56:27 -
    2016-02-14 - 2016-02-21 0:00:35 - 166:35:24 -
    2016-02-21 - 2016-02-28 0:02:11 - 166:48:53 -
    2016-02-28 - 2016-03-06 0:08:59 - 141:57:45 24:47:44
    2016-03-06 - 2016-03-13 2:47:47 1:08:20 271:06:49 54:26:22
    2016-03-13 - 2016-03-20 0:02:51 - 147:35:02 19:12:47
    2016-03-20 - 2016-03-27 2:40:08 60:22:42 82:22:58 22:04:40
    2016-03-27 - 2016-04-03 0:38:27 12:26:08 120:30:57 33:37:26
    2016-04-03 - 2016-04-10 1:34:31 12:21:09 115:34:05 30:16:14
    2016-04-10 - 2016-04-17 1:40:56 12:21:09 152:27:47 162:46:28
    2016-04-17 - 2016-04-24 1:41:45 12:21:09 185:40:53 296:32:39
    2016-04-24 - 2016-05-01 0:50:00 1:50:04 41:15:16 123:50:00
    2016-05-01 - 2016-05-08 0:56:04 0:00:08 15:13:22 45:59:58
    2016-05-08 - 2016-05-15 1:18:19 14:38:01 46:11:23 98:03:02
    2016-05-15 - 2016-05-22 2:21:22 26:02:46 38:02:04 101:14:58
    2016-05-22 - 2016-05-29 0:00:51 0:00:02 46:51:24 121:05:27
    2016-05-29 - 2016-06-05 0:00:40 - 33:49:49 133:06:08
    2016-06-05 - 2016-06-12 0:01:58 - 45:39:45 122:15:44
    2016-06-12 - 2016-06-19 1:21:07 - 31:33:05 134:41:16
    2016-06-19 - 2016-06-26 0:13:51 0:00:24 39:20:52 124:37:34
    2016-06-26 - 2016-07-03 0:00:15 0:00:14 29:15:19 96:55:32
    2016-07-04 - - - -
    2016-07-05 - - - -
    2016-07-06 - - - -
    2016-07-07 - - - -
    2016-07-08 - - - -
    2016-07-09 - - - -
    2016-07-10 - - - -
    2016-07-11 - - - -
    2016-07-12 - - - -
    2016-07-13 - - - -

    Battery capacity history

    Charge capacity history of the system's batteries

    2015-12-06 - 2015-12-13 41,098 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2015-12-13 - 2015-12-20 41,199 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2015-12-20 - 2015-12-27 40,858 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2015-12-27 - 2016-01-03 40,855 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-01-03 - 2016-01-10 40,782 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-01-10 - 2016-01-17 40,773 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-01-17 - 2016-01-24 40,766 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-01-24 - 2016-01-31 40,854 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-01-31 - 2016-02-07 40,858 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-02-07 - 2016-02-14 40,694 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-02-14 - 2016-02-21 40,668 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-02-21 - 2016-02-28 40,668 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-02-28 - 2016-03-06 40,687 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-03-06 - 2016-03-13 40,704 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-03-13 - 2016-03-20 40,531 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-03-20 - 2016-03-27 41,392 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-03-27 - 2016-04-03 42,552 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-04-03 - 2016-04-10 42,556 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-04-10 - 2016-04-17 42,166 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-04-17 - 2016-04-24 41,088 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-04-24 - 2016-05-01 36,875 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-05-01 - 2016-05-08 29,389 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-05-08 - 2016-05-15 28,510 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-05-15 - 2016-05-22 22,849 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-05-22 - 2016-05-29 22,473 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-05-29 - 2016-06-05 16,609 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-06-05 - 2016-06-12 16,378 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-06-12 - 2016-06-19 8,445 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-06-19 - 2016-06-26 7,881 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-06-26 - 2016-07-03 7,881 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-04 7,881 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-05 7,881 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-06 7,881 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-07 7,881 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-08 7,881 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-09 7,881 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-10 7,881 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-11 7,881 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-12 7,881 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-13 7,881 mWh 42,157 mWh

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2016-07-20T02:59:24+00:00

    I just called again and was told "it is a known issue that should be able to be fixed via an upcoming Windows Update". I really hate talking with tech support that knows less about technology than I do...

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments