My SP6 dies at around 30 % battery - why?

[Mastiff]

Contacted MS, and I'm getting a new device as soon as they have received mine. I hadn't noticed the main thing about the battery report, which was at the top saying that it was more than halved:

DESIGN CAPACITY	45 000 mWh
FULL CHARGE CAPACITY	20 310 mWh

I'll have to see what I can do in the meantime, but I'm guessing I'll buy a used SP or SP6 and then sell it again or give it to my wife. I also have an older SP here, but the battery is bloated. I'll see if that will run on power in the docking. Or could that be dangerous to use?

 

[wpcoe]

I also have an older SP here, but the battery is bloated. I'll see if that will run on power in the docking. Or could that be dangerous to use?

Have you tried getting a replacement unit from Microsoft for the one with the expanding battery? They tried to be responsive to me when my SP2017 battery pushed my screen out of its frame, but I was in Mexico and they didn't support Surface devices in Mexico at the time. If Microsoft supports Surface devices in Norway, I would contact them about a replacement (a refurbished unit.)

Microsoft highly recommended that I *not* use my SP2017 on AC power, due to risk of fire.

 

[ScottyS]

I only found out within the last year that there's a setting in BIOS that lets you restrict battery charging to a maximum of 50%. That's intended for folks like me who use their Surface Pro like a desktop computer, i.e. plugged in for 90% of its use.

I'm trying this now because my SP7 is plugged in most of the time (though I power off the plug strip the charger is plugged in to when I'm not home) especially since I got an iPad Pro in the beginning of the year.

I was getting only about 3 1/2 - 4 hours on battery (best performance, 80% screen brightness). Will see if this doesn't improve that over time. The trick is to anticipate when I will be taking it portably so I can switch Battery Limit off in UFEI and let it charge to 100% before I go.

 

[Mastiff]

@wpoe Yeah, but because it was bought at Elkjøp (sort of like Circuit City in Norway) their warranty didn't cover it. And Elkjøp considered battery a "wear and tear" part, even if it's impossible to replace for regular folks.

 

[Turbo4AWD]

Just ran the report on my Surface Pro 6 and am proud to say that since 2018 my battery life is still pretty much 8 hours.....as long as I don't install major Windows updates on battery or play several rounds of Kane's Wrath or Left 4 Dead on battery. Lol. Then of course the battery doesn't last long at all.....

 

[wpcoe]

@wpoe Yeah, but because it was bought at Elkjøp (sort of like Circuit City in Norway) their warranty didn't cover it. And Elkjøp considered battery a "wear and tear" part, even if it's impossible to replace for regular folks.

Did you contact Microsoft directly and tell them that you had an "expanding/exploding" battery?

My SP2017 was outside of Microsoft warranty, but they still replaced it. It seems to be unrelated to warranty -- if your battery has expanded, Microsoft appears to take responsibility, or at least they did with my SP2017.

I can't recall exactly where I started the process, but it was via an online chat from a microsoft.com troubleshooting page.

 

[wpcoe]

I'm trying this now because my SP7 is plugged in most of the time (though I power off the plug strip the charger is plugged in to when I'm not home) especially since I got an iPad Pro in the beginning of the year.

I was getting only about 3 1/2 - 4 hours on battery (best performance, 80% screen brightness). Will see if this doesn't improve that over time. The trick is to anticipate when I will be taking it portably so I can switch Battery Limit off in UFEI and let it charge to 100% before I go.

I'm not at all optimistic about improving battery life, rather I'm trying to prevent any further decline in battery capacity. I'm not sure one can reinstate lost battery capacity, but would be glad to be proven wrong.

I appear to have already lost 40% battery charge capacity:

And, yes, it can sometimes be tricky to anticipate when you'll wish you had changed UEFI and rebooted to charge back to 100% capacity. Luckily, I don't go off mains power very often, and when I do the 50% charge I have is enough.

 

[ScottyS]

From my battery report:

Battery life estimates

Battery life estimates based on observed drains

	AT FULL CHARGE​		AT DESIGN CAPACITY​
PERIOD​	ACTIVE​	CONNECTED STANDBY​		ACTIVE​	CONNECTED STANDBY​

Current estimate of battery life based on all observed drains since OS install

Since OS install

3:51:13​

21:17:55 75 % / 16 h​

4:23:12​

24:14:42 66 % / 16 h​

This is since 10/27/2019, so it looks like I've lost 25% in a year and a half.
But BatteryBar shows:

Interesting, both show run time just under 4 hours, but have I lost 25% or 9.4% of my battery life?

 

[Mastiff]

Did you contact Microsoft directly and tell them that you had an "expanding/exploding" battery?

Yes, it was Microsoft Norway that said I wasn't covered by them because I had bought it at Elkjøp. Elkjøp said that they didn't cover batteries after a year or two.

 

[wpcoe]

Yes, it was Microsoft Norway that said I wasn't covered by them because I had bought it at Elkjøp. Elkjøp said that they didn't cover batteries after a year or two.

Wow, that's quite a different reaction from Microsoft than what I experienced. Sorry to hear that.

I had a long ordeal to finally get a replacement unit, but from the get-go Microsoft USA was eager to fix the problem even though:

(a) I had bought the SP5 from a non-Microsoft vendor in Thailand,
(b) the SP5 was out of warranty, and
(c) I was in Mexico, where the Surface product line was not supported.

I know you're probably over fighting this, but I wonder if it would make a difference if you contacted Microsoft USA. Maybe use a VPN USA location and chat with MS tech support? That's how I contacted them from Mexico.