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
    2020-03-08T08:27:20+00:00

    I just returned mine on Friday to Best Buy.  Not even two weeks old and wouldn't boot up (bottom was very hot). Such a bummer because i loved so many thinga abput it.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-03-08T06:11:57+00:00

    I'm planning on returning it too. Had it for 2 months I guess. Nothing worked 

    Think this fan noise and overheating issue cannot be fixed that easy looks like. 

    I'll still will give the laptop to Microsoft store as they requested and see what they come up with.

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-03-06T17:52:18+00:00

    Has a solution been found yet? :(

    return/sell it and buy something non-Microsoft

    I am on my fourth Surface Book 2, it has a similar issue... seems to overheat/throttle, especially when docked... trying to type an email or browse a web page with nothing resource intensive running and it will be slow/lag/freeze/throttle...

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-03-05T18:01:46+00:00

    This is happening to my computer as well. I have the 13 inch i7, 16GB 500GB SSD. I've installed every update provided and there has been no change. 

    Has a solution been found yet? :(

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-02-26T02:11:05+00:00

    Right now something weird happening to my pc. i shut it down. The screen is off but the keyboard is still on and the fan is going crazy. All the computer is hot. I tried the power button but nothing is happening. It is not turning back on and the keyboard is not going off. Need help!!

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