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
    2016-08-30T00:27:25+00:00

    Matthew, thanks. Can you advise where to go to discuss upgrading to Win10? The free upgrade for 8.1 users expired, and those of us who couldn't update because our computers wouldn't stay on lost out. Any way to extend the period for SP3 users?

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-08-30T00:41:40+00:00

    Null_RG, I don't have a solid answer for you.  I recommend visit the Windows 10 forums:  http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10  or calling Windows Support.  If you didn't upgrade to Windows 10 during the free period, a Surface agent will only be able to reinstall the OS that originally came with your SP3.  Sorry, let us know how it goes.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-08-30T00:47:59+00:00

    If you are STILL seeing issues I would recommend starting a new thread and then coming back here and linking to your new post.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-08-30T00:50:22+00:00

    Use this link:  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/windows10upgrade  and see if that works to get you to where you want to be.

    I have been told that Microsoft [specifically in regards to the Windows 10 upgrade not specifically with Surface devices] will be lenient in cases where there was some sort of block to keep you from Windows 10.  If you have any issues with the upgrade process, holler.

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