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
    2016-08-18T12:30:07+00:00

    Mine was not as well but after setting advanced power option "maximum power state" to 65% I can now boot and work again plugged on the dock as well, even with a 144 mWh Simplo.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-08-18T12:35:24+00:00

    I've been having a discussion with Barb Bowman on twitter around the SP3's that are so low on capacity that they no longer function when docked.  Are there SP3 owners on this topic that are also finding that the SP3, when at it's lowest capacity, is also unable to stay on even using the supplied power supply?  I'm sure some people said that was the case but we want to be sure.

    That is my case, unable to stay on even using the supplied power supply

    There are reports of upgraded power bricks now being supplied with docking stations 60w plus, mine is a 48w power supply. Apparently the larger power supplies keep the SP3 booting and working.

    I was lucky to get my data off it, and it then had no choice to return the device for out of warranty repair, as there was no mention of the power supply fix until the last few days.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-08-18T12:45:44+00:00

    I use an only 41W adapter, it is likely not related to whether you use 41, 48 or 60W, but more on your current SP3 power plan / settings.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-08-18T13:50:54+00:00

    Greg, you mentioned that Microsoft has isolated this to a limited number of customers experiencing the issue described in this posting. I have a Surface Pro 3 that was purchased new in March 2015 and have it running Windows 10. My problem is exactly like the one described in this post. The battery report shows significant battery degradation beginning in June 2016. I am now at a Full Charge Capacity of only 4,818 mWh.

    I can no longer use the Surface Pro 3 unless it is plugged into an AC source. Since my job requires me to travel and frequently attend meetings outside my office where I don't always have AC available, I am severely constrained.

    I would appreciate an update as to whether or not Microsoft has identified the problem and worked out a resolution at this point.

    Thank you,

    David

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