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
    2016-09-04T20:33:07+00:00

    Yes, I have spoken to people in other online communities and we are definitely not alone with this issue. Apparently it have been a problem since the launch of the Surface Pro 3, and I have also spoken with owner of the SP4 with the same problem. Hopefully MS will resolve it eventually, and not abandoning the SP3, as not being able to tell the battery level is extremely frustrating.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-09-05T07:18:41+00:00

    I sent an email, not the same as opening a ticket. I don't always get detailed

    feedback, mostly "engineering is looking into this".

    That would do. Any help from you is welcomed.

    Just note that "Battery Not Detected" is though less but not an uncommon sight among the Surface Pro 3 users.

    I am one of those frustrated and agonised users who is sitting with a 2000 dollar slate that within one and half year of its purchase won't run without AC power and may die anytime soon as the battery issue is not resolved yet.

    I still believe that if MS can remove this minimum 40% battery power restriction with a registry tweak, the update for the battery can be applied without hitch.

    It defies logic that an updated firmware supposed to replace a faulty firmware on a battery cannot be installed because the device doesn't hold 40% battery power, which is most probably a staus shown by the faulty firmware, thus defeating the purpose.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-09-05T09:45:07+00:00

    Hi everyone,

    since Friday, I have a similar issue. I witnessed a lower battery performance in the last months, but usually the battery worked for more than 2 hours, so, I was fine. Now, I left my Surface 3 Pro, Model 1631, at my desk without charging and it seems that, since the charging level was above 40%, it automatically started some updates (probably the "fix"). The next day, I could not start the Surface even when the charger is connected. As written earlier by others, the charger's light fades for a short moment ca. 10-15 seconds after pressing the start button. As a result, I cannot access any menu (despite my data) or settings.

    So, for me, the update made it significantly worse. Does someone experience the same problem, i.e., an entirely dead battery and a non starting Surface even when the charger is plugged in?

    Thanks!

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-09-05T10:04:09+00:00

    its' really important that you try a different charger to see if that is the

    issue. you can go to a physical retail Microsoft Store if you are in the US to

    do this. or use a friend's SP3, SP4, or Surface Book charger.

    >> As written earlier by others, the charger's light fades for a short moment ca. 10-15 seconds after pressing the start button

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