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
    2020-06-15T19:40:33+00:00

    Hey there,

    I have the same exact problem. My Surface Laptop 3 Model 1873 (Ryzen 5, 8GB RAM) with win10 18363 overheats while charging. Charging the laptop between 0% and 80% battery causes the overheating of the battery and loud fan noises. Therefore I try to keep the battery above 80% so I can work without distracting noises.

    Now it is June and I own the Laptop for about a half year and I am having this annoying problem from the beginning on. I always hoped that Microsoft fixes this issue but now I doubt they can.

    If any reader knows how to handle this issue, please contact me.

    Thank you.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-06-11T19:59:07+00:00

    Thanks for the feedback! And your previous Surface Laptop 3 didn't overheat while charging?  

    I was thinking that it was a general issue...but maybe happens just to some devices...

    Anyways, if the problem can't be solved with a firmware update or something, I'll send the computer to be replaced or fixed before the warranty expires....I really like the computer, but for a premium price, I expect a premium product: faultless.

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-06-11T17:43:17+00:00

    I just had my Surface Laptop 3 replaced by MS because of a major battery issue. The new one they just gave me does this exact same thing as yours.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-06-11T16:31:13+00:00

    Same problem with a Surface Laptop 3 for business, i7 with 16GB RAM. It gets burning hot when charging, and fans sounds crazy.  No heavy tasks running when the issue happens...

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-06-11T00:03:52+00:00

    I think it is futile to try to resolve the issue. Your best bet is truly to get a replacement in the hopes that it is another machine that fails. Apparently not all customers have had these issues. I returned mine for a refund. Again this is the second tiem this has happened as I had major issues with my Surface Pro 4 as well.

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