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
    2017-05-09T17:26:26+00:00

    My Surface Pro 3 is experiencing this issue.  I have not even had it 3 years, but obviously it's out of warranty.  The firmware and solutions online don't fix the problem, and I had sent it in for a battery replacement already when it still was in warranty.  Is there another solution for the dead battery aside from sending it in for $450?  I'd expect a $1200+ system to last more than 2.5 years.

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-05-12T17:24:27+00:00

    I have the same problem   Finally got a replacement

    same problem

    have ordered a new power charger   hope that is the problem as a new Surface should charge

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-05-15T14:35:13+00:00

    Marlene, Do not order a new charger!  They would probably let you order one, too.  

    MS sends replacement surfaces out that have the issue, as the surface pro 3 is no longer manufactured.

     You will have to do the same troubleshooting/fixes.  

    I suppose you could ask them to test it before sending it and if the issue is present, test another, and another, until a good one comes up, but they might not even do that.  It's not worth their time, and MS simply doesn't care about the consumer.  They would rather push you to upgrade to a 4, than make their customer happy.

    US: We paid you over a grand for these and you broke it, and now we can't use it.

    THEM:  So?

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-07-19T02:47:22+00:00

    one year later, and still no solution?

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