SURFACE LAPTOP 3 - Overheating when charging and excessive Fan Noise

Anonymous
2020-01-07T23:58:07+00:00

Edit: 16 Jun 2021

Laptop is going OK - not much fan noise or heating as I haven't been using it much. mostly my work laptop

Got a better data USB C to USB C cable to plug into the dock and using a Lenovo Dock Gen 2 for the additional screen, think they are helping in better handling and keeps fans not to rev so much

Being my 3rd laptop (replaced 2 before) battery is performing better than the other two. Haven't run the full tests yet - still in progress to test real word batt life (office work, no games, no memory or cpu intensive apps)

Edit: 17 Feb 2021

Well, this 3rd laptop replacement is not as bad as the other two, however, the rocket engine fan noise is not completely gone. 

this laptop is for light use only, any slightest workload "WHEN hooked up to an additional monitor" + Microsoft teams video call, 3-word documents, 2 webpages, this laptop cannot handle. It runs however fans rev up and won't stop until we close a few applications or disconnect additional monitor. 

I think its the quick charging or charging which using additional display via display USB-C. Not much was done during the testing phase. 

I hear dell XPS's and some other laptops rev fans too, however only when there is significant load, not just basic office work.

Example: I had sticky notes, 1 webpage, and a TEMAS interview video call: Laptop fans did not stop revving at max speed until the end of the interview and I closed all applications. 

For this time there is nothing more I want to do - there is no fix for this, so i will have to s*C* it up and make a better decision next time. 

Edit:28 Oct 2020

Nothing changed its still overheats when plugged to an external display. Fans still rev high when on Microsot teams meeting or charging. Laptop battery looks like it gave up (3 to 5 hour max) on light use. What a shame this issue is not getting enough attention. 

Edit: 28 Aug 2020 

No change - Laptop still goes crazy when plugged to an additional screen

All Microsoft Stores are temporarily closed until further notice. So I have to escalate this again to Microsoft


Edit: 17 Apr 2020

The issue still continues, Couldn't attend MS Store because of COVID lockdowns.

At this stage im hoping they can fix this via software patch. However, after research, this has been a problem for a few MS products (charging, especially fast charging) 


Edit: 21 Jan 2020

Still did not go to Microsoft store. With this COVID 19 going on, working from home most of the time.

I will give away my laptop to the store soon to test. 

Biggest change I noticed.  Battery is being effected. When ever the laptop is hot during couple of hours of work connected to dock.... remove from the dock....u get 3 hours or so max on full battery... guessing due to excessive heat I guess. 

I tried multiple times charging with power adapter. Works fine without issues, no heat, battery lasts longer a little. Daily heating issue is causing battery to deterioate quickly 


Surface Laptop 3 - 13inch, i5, 8GB, 256GB SSD.

Surface laptop overheating on every charge - even with no applications running. Brand new laptop, room temperature is under 21 C. After plugging in the charger, if you listen closely near the exhaust vents - there is a faint static electric noise, not to mention is scary as i don't want to use this anywhere close to me. 

Laptop has already been replaced with a new one, still same issue. With some research a lot of people are experiencing the same issue. Any solution for this ?????

Surface | Surface Laptop | Power and battery

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-07-19T01:44:02+00:00

    Just happened to me.

    I've had it for almost 3 weeks maybe and it started overheating when charging it, this week. Then a few minutes ago, I connected it, it froze, crashed and then gave me the blue screen of death. It is not restarting, it is not doing anything whatsoever. Needless to say I am returning it. 

    Trying to get a hold of customer service is HORRIBLE. I've tried to contact them soooo many times and not being succesful since the overheating started a few days ago.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-07-18T21:09:52+00:00

    All - I just got a new Surface Laptop 3 for work. The first day it had the same issues described in this forum - fan running constantly when plugged in and the body of the laptop overheating. I tried adjusting the battery profile setting, etc. After a few days of frustration, I went to the Microsoft Support site to determine if there were additional downloads for this model. Sure enough, there is a new firmware download. I installed it, and I haven't had any trouble for a couple of days. It fixed it. Go here to find your processor and model (mine is Intel) and download the latest firmware. Good luck!  https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4023482

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-07-11T18:46:05+00:00

    I have the same issue with my Surface Book1 I noticed that it would overheat more often when plugged into an extension power strip.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-07-02T21:15:44+00:00

    Thank you. Yes i should still be warranty, I will have to speak directly to MS Store now and ask for a refund. 

    Not sure what their response will be, as everything was tried. 

    Will have to speak to the local store i bought it from (****) 

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-07-02T19:50:04+00:00

    Hi Agent 0.47 Hundred,

    Replied to eagelfox. My Surface Pro 4 did this right before the battery expanded. If you're under warranty, get it handled immediately. 

    I'm out of warranty and the only option I was given was to pay US$600 for a refurbished device with a 6 month warranty. 

    Good luck.

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