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
    2016-08-18T13:54:41+00:00

    can you power it on without the dock, just with the power cord/brick adapter or

    not?

    >> 90% of the time it won't come on even when connected to power/dock.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-08-18T14:54:56+00:00

    I am having this problem, too.  I also have a simpro battery with only 115 cycles.  It won't take more than a 144 mWh charge.  I can limp the thing along plugged in, but will not take a charge and for the last half year has not been able to function unplugged, which is why I bought the thing.

    I have been through numerous, lengthy calls with Microsoft support, and they told me I could buy a warranty replacement refurb surface for $400.  The battery failed shortly after the warranty expired.   115 cycles is way too few for a $2,000 tab. 

    I would like to have a better fix.

    This article discussed a class action probe.

    http://www.infoworld.com/article/3102031/microsoft-windows/microsoft-surface-pro-3s-defective-simplo-batteries-trigger-a-class-action-probe.html

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-08-18T14:58:30+00:00

    Apple, who released an update that deliberately bricked iPads that had a third party repair on the fingerprint sensor, told the world it was by design and buy a new iPad. then ages later said sorry it was a mistake, backed down and released a new update to "fix" the issue, not sure what apple did regarding everyone who had to buy a new iPad or pay for an out of warranty replacement on that either....

    manufacturers are all the same!

    TBH i'm glad MS are trying to do a software fix for devices that are out of warranty (probably because many are still in warranty!) but not sure how it will work for devices that will no longer boot (USB boot and patch?)

    I don't like the apparent silence from MS on progress but i know that software patches take ages to thoroughly test and would prefer not to receive updates like:-

    testing patch

    still testing patch

    still testing patch

    still testing patch

    If Microsoft are providing a software fix, it is because there is a software fault. They have an obligation to fix their buggy code. More importantly, if it is a software issue, that means one of their updates caused this, as 12-18 months of no issue, followed by most of the SP3's starting to die around April / May, indicates a software update about that time. If this is the case, not only should Microsoft fix what they broke, they should compensate those who they affected, because they have essentially put malware on many SP3 devices that have bricked them worse than any virus infection.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-08-18T15:14:37+00:00

    UPDATE:

    I just received the following email from Microsoft after linking to this thread.

    "Good morning ******,

    I have brought your issue to my manager’s attention and he has approved and out of warranty exchange free of charge. He stated that your device qualifies to be included into the ongoing investigation regarding this issue. Once you receive the replacement device, a 90-day warranty will be added. If you wish to continue with the exchange, please fill out the shipping information form at the bottom of this thread. Thank you for time and patience during this process.

    Kindest regards,"

    So maybe a little leverage is all that's needed!

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