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
    2016-07-19T15:09:11+00:00

    I've been reading about the issue in social media and saw some people mention about buying 3 years warranty.

    Unfortunately, it seems like the 3 years warranty is not being offered in all countries. At very least, my country's version of Surface warrantypage only say "Your Surface is covered by a 1 year warranty" without any mention about the extended warranty. It's not available for purchase in the local version of http://www.microsoftstore.com/ and from some searching, this option is only available for business customer in case of my country.

    So in my case, and I'm sure quite few others here, it's not our fault that we didn't buy 3 years warranty. Some of us don't even have that choice to begin with. :(

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-07-19T14:48:18+00:00

    could some one please advise me if i should ask for a replacement on my battery as i have only 5 days left on my warranty...please look at my battery report below and kindly advice me what to do. thanks

          Battery report

    COMPUTER NAME SOWMI
    SYSTEM PRODUCT NAME Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 3
    BIOS 3.11.1150 12/09/2015
    OS BUILD 10586.420.amd64fre.th2_release_sec.160527-1834
    PLATFORM ROLE Slate
    CONNECTED STANDBY Supported
    REPORT TIME 2016-07-19 15:29:03

    Installed batteries

    Information about each currently installed battery

    NAME X898289
    MANUFACTURER SIMPLO
    SERIAL NUMBER 1160976900
    CHEMISTRY LION
    DESIGN CAPACITY 42,157 mWh
    FULL CHARGE CAPACITY 41,154 mWh
    CYCLE COUNT 23

    Recent usage

    Power states over the last 3 days

    2016-07-17 20:59:20 Connected standby Battery 90 % 37,134 mWh
    20:59:20 Active Battery 90 % 37,134 mWh
    22:09:53 Connected standby Battery 65 % 26,874 mWh
    22:35:24 Active Battery 65 % 26,729 mWh
    22:43:28 Connected standby Battery 63 % 26,022 mWh
    22:43:31 Active Battery 63 % 26,015 mWh
    22:54:42 Connected standby Battery 61 % 24,913 mWh
    2016-07-18 02:54:54 Suspended 59 % 24,176 mWh
    2016-07-19 14:25:11 Active Battery 58 % 23,948 mWh
    14:28:43 Connected standby Battery 57 % 23,530 mWh
    14:46:26 Active Battery 57 % 23,438 mWh
    15:29:00 Report generated Battery 36 % 15,018 mWh

    Battery usage

    Battery drains over the last 3 days

    2016-07-17 20:59:20 Connected standby 0:00:00 - -
    20:59:20 Active 1:10:32 25 % 10,260 mWh
    22:09:53 Connected standby 0:25:30 - 145 mWh
    22:35:24 Active 0:08:04 2 % 707 mWh
    22:43:28 Connected standby 0:00:02 - 7 mWh
    22:43:31 Active 0:11:10 3 % 1,102 mWh
    22:54:42 Connected standby 4:00:11 2 % 737 mWh
    2016-07-19 14:25:11 Active 0:03:31 1 % 418 mWh
    14:28:43 Connected standby 0:17:42 - 92 mWh
    14:46:26 Active 0:42:33 20 % 8,420 mWh

    Usage history

    History of system usage on AC and battery

    2016-02-28 - 2016-03-03 0:06:49 - 2:41:31 0:45:18
    2016-03-03 - 2016-03-08 0:20:49 1:55:48 - -
    2016-03-08 - 2016-04-08 0:47:44 4:13:14 - -
    2016-04-08 - 2016-04-16 0:41:57 4:16:32 0:39:52 1:32:33
    2016-04-16 - 2016-04-21 2:13:44 8:00:05 - -
    2016-04-21 - 2016-04-30 0:26:10 10:24:04 0:45:11 1:08:30
    2016-04-30 - 2016-05-04 0:56:21 8:40:37 - -
    2016-05-04 - 2016-05-18 4:12:03 29:45:22 1:14:07 1:25:16
    2016-05-18 - 2016-05-25 - - 167:37:37 -
    2016-05-25 - 2016-06-01 - - 167:59:59 -
    2016-06-01 - 2016-06-08 - - 167:59:59 -
    2016-06-08 - 2016-06-15 - - 167:59:59 -
    2016-06-15 - 2016-06-22 - - 167:59:59 -
    2016-06-22 - 2016-06-29 - - 167:59:59 -
    2016-06-29 - 2016-07-06 - - 167:59:59 -
    2016-07-07 1:33:11 0:42:19 20:36:11 1:06:21
    2016-07-08 4:13:56 0:57:35 0:00:10 4:34:24
    2016-07-09 - - - -
    2016-07-10 - - - -
    2016-07-11 - - - -
    2016-07-12 0:04:24 4:00:16 - -
    2016-07-13 - - - -
    2016-07-14 - - - -
    2016-07-15 - - - -
    2016-07-16 - - - -
    2016-07-17 1:29:45 1:30:48 - -
    2016-07-18 - 2:54:53 - -

    Battery capacity history

    Charge capacity history of the system's batteries

    2016-02-28 - 2016-03-03 42,530 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-03-03 - 2016-03-08 42,530 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-03-08 - 2016-04-08 42,530 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-04-08 - 2016-04-16 42,530 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-04-16 - 2016-04-21 42,530 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-04-21 - 2016-04-30 42,530 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-04-30 - 2016-05-04 42,530 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-05-04 - 2016-05-18 41,815 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-05-18 - 2016-05-25 40,675 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-05-25 - 2016-06-01 40,675 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-06-01 - 2016-06-08 40,675 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-06-08 - 2016-06-15 40,675 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-06-15 - 2016-06-22 40,675 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-06-22 - 2016-06-29 40,675 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-06-29 - 2016-07-06 40,675 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-07 40,675 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-08 40,925 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-09 41,207 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-10 41,207 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-11 41,207 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-12 41,190 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-13 41,154 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-14 41,154 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-15 41,154 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-16 41,154 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-17 41,154 mWh 42,157 mWh
    2016-07-18 41,154 mWh 42,157 mWh

    Battery life estimates

    Battery life estimates based on observed drains

    2016-02-28 - 2016-03-03 1:01:49 - 1:01:17 -
    2016-03-03 - 2016-03-08 3:29:09 65:27:24<br><br>24 % / 16 h 3:27:18 64:52:58<br><br>25 % / 16 h
    2016-03-08 - 2016-04-08 3:45:14 105:24:08<br><br>15 % / 16 h 3:43:15 104:28:40<br><br>15 % / 16 h
    2016-04-08 - 2016-04-16 2:05:40 137:26:41<br><br>12 % / 16 h 2:04:34 136:14:21<br><br>12 % / 16 h
    2016-04-16 - 2016-04-21 3:08:08 143:57:01<br><br>11 % / 16 h 3:06:29 142:41:16<br><br>11 % / 16 h
    2016-04-21 - 2016-04-30 3:24:50 148:29:33<br><br>11 % / 16 h 3:23:02 147:11:24<br><br>11 % / 16 h
    2016-04-30 - 2016-05-04 3:53:55 127:46:50<br><br>13 % / 16 h 3:51:52 126:39:35<br><br>13 % / 16 h
    2016-05-04 - 2016-05-18 2:53:35 154:35:04<br><br>10 % / 16 h 2:55:00 155:50:56<br><br>10 % / 16 h
    2016-05-18 - 2016-05-25 - - - -
    2016-05-25 - 2016-06-01 - - - -
    2016-06-01 - 2016-06-08 - - - -
    2016-06-08 - 2016-06-15 - - - -
    2016-06-15 - 2016-06-22 - - - -
    2016-06-22 - 2016-06-29 - - - -
    2016-06-29 - 2016-07-06 - - - -
    2016-07-07 3:10:47 147:52:19<br><br>11 % / 16 h 3:17:45 153:15:35<br><br>10 % / 16 h
    2016-07-08 3:27:01 20:56:51<br><br>76 % / 16 h 3:33:15 21:34:41<br><br>74 % / 16 h
    2016-07-09 - - - -
    2016-07-10 - - - -
    2016-07-11 - - - -
    2016-07-12 1:44:09 374:01:14<br><br>4 % / 16 h 1:46:36 382:48:04<br><br>4 % / 16 h
    2016-07-13 - - - -
    2016-07-14 - - - -
    2016-07-15 - - - -
    2016-07-16 - - - -
    2016-07-17 5:06:02 351:51:46<br><br>5 % / 16 h 5:13:29 360:26:18<br><br>4 % / 16 h
    2016-07-18 - 168:28:21<br><br>9 % / 16 h - 172:34:42<br><br>9 % / 16 h

    Current estimate of battery life based on all observed drains since OS install

    Since OS install 3:09:49 132:52:43<br><br>12 % / 16 h 3:14:27 136:07:01<br><br>12 % / 16 h

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-07-19T14:37:19+00:00

    and you will only get a 3 month warranty with the replacement

    its a disgraceful way for microsoft to operate

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-07-19T14:27:09+00:00

    I had the same problem with my SP3. Battery just died after 1.5 years. Did a clean install of Win 8.1 and Win 10 hoping it was a software issue. No luck. Sent in for a replacement @ $500+. Waiting for the replacement.

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