Strange charging issue when connected to docking station

[Muhammad Ibrahim]

Hello All

I have had the surface pro 3 (i7, 256 gb) for about 4 months now along with the docking station.

Recently I realized that I have an issue with the charging, although it charges normally under most situations, sometimes while running certain programs and under certain conditions it says 'Plugged in, not charging'!

The situations that this happens under is usually related to video playback.

I have a program called Popcorn time (it streams videos from torrents) and every time I have that program maximized the charging stops (Plugged in, not charging). I said maximized because when I have it minimized the charging resumes.

Until now I had thought this issue to be related only to this specific program. However I have just realized, a few moments ago, that the same issue happens when I play videos on youtube through chrome! It resumes charging the moment I pause the video. (It is the same even after I uninstalled popcorn time)

Has anyone else faced this issue or a similar issue?

I haven't noticed if I face the same issue through the AC charger that came with the surface, mainly because it is still packed as it came.

A couple of facts that you need to be aware of:
1. I have installed the intel update for the graphic driver, I'm not using the stock drivers that came.
2. I have intel extreme tuning utility installed (although I haven't been brave enough to start tweaking any values yet)

I would really appreciate is someone could help me out with this issue, I'm quite frustrated and Microsoft service has been a disappointment (they just tell me to remove popcorn time to resolve the issue and restart, idiots don't understand that I want it to continue charging while I watch videos!)

Looking forward to some help!

 

[Muhammad Ibrahim]

UPDATE:

Some people over on reddit suggested I uninstall and reinstall the power management software, however even after doing that the problem seems to still persist.

 

[hughlle]

Best bet is to give MS a call on live chat or such. Have you tried a full system refresh to see if it is an issue with your surface or the dock?

While I say this, I've occasionally noticed, regardless of usage, that with the normal powewre cable it'll sometimes say plugged in not charging despite being at 80 odd percent.

 

[Muhammad Ibrahim]

Best bet is to give MS a call on live chat or such. Have you tried a full system refresh to see if it is an issue with your surface or the dock?

While I say this, I've occasionally noticed, regardless of usage, that with the normal powewre cable it'll sometimes say plugged in not charging despite being at 80 odd percent.

I did give them a call, their opinion was to uninstall popcorn time and restart my surface -_- I haven't yet tried system refresh, I'll try it out and report back

 

[GreyFox7]

I haven't paid a lot of attention to SP3 charging but have done a lot recently with S3 charging. Id suggest installing Baterybar and monitoring charge rates. I don't know if the condition you describe might be normal or abnormal. I wouldn't be surprised to see negative charge rates under high load though particularly while doing graphics intensive tasks.

 

[bmack]

I had the same problem with my dock and then my surface started doing the same thing when plugged directly into the charger. But for whatever reason I am no longer having the issue. Mine would do it any time the CPU load got over a certain amount