When Connected to power, fan runs almost always

[Ryuuji]

Hello,

my problem is that since the last few days/weeks the fan on my Surface Pro 3 i7/256GB runs as soon as i plug it in.

The CPU load is acording to my task-manager 0-1%. During battery use the fan almost never runs.

I can have my Surface running on battery, no fan but as soon as I plug in the charger the fan goes off. Is there something wrong with AC usage?

Also my Fan runs almost as soon as I open a MUI app, mostly at games from the Windows Store, Sometimes in the Music and video apps. However when running a "traditional" program the runs a lot less.
be it VLC, XBMC or Windows Media Player.

 

[Nitric]

Is it spinning real loud? Thats weird. Im having the same sp3 as yours but i never experienced that problem before.

 

[Ryuuji]

today the fan runs even when I'm browsing with iemui (not always, every few minutes). Also my battery life is getting shorter. I Don't know whats causing it. the Task-Manager doesn't show much load.The only tings i did in the last week was installing updates and a few mui store games. Also it's mostly just for a few seconds (max30/45).

Edit. The only weird thing, that I could find is that on the 16.12.14 The Systemfirmware update from the 18.11.14 was installed again, but under the Update history under status it says reboot pending. But i already rebooted and shutdown my Surface dozens of times since the installation date. (I have a German Windows 8.1 so I I'm not sure if I wrote the exact names of the options)

 

[GreyFox7]

It seems odd. I don't know what would run specifically if you plug in but you indicate task manager shows no changes. Id try using Resource Monitor to see if anything spikes there and if not a Hail Mary Refresh. All those failing its time for a replacement as it would seem the charging circuit may be faulty.

 

[NeilG]

I have the same model SP3 and the fan rarely runs although I'm not a game player. I have noticed that web pages with a load of embedded flash will warm things up to the point of the fan starting up but under normal use it doesn't come on often at all whether plugged in or not.

I think I'd be tempted to do reset and if it continues I'd place a support call.

 

[dmillerzx]

I can confirm very similar behavior on a i5 8gb SP3. While plugged in my fan will run simply from the screen saver while everything else is idle. It also runs much more aggressively while plugged in during video playback.

When on battery life the fan behaves much more normally. For instance it doesn't run at all while the screen saver is on.

 

[Ryuuji]

It would be more precise to say, that I only see the CPU usage in the Core Diagram like there's a short spike and than it goes down. But I don't see a Process in the task manager that uses the cpu , they only/mostly just use ram.

Today it seems to be better. Last night was a lot worse but this time I Shut down my SP3 and let it not go into Connected Standby or hibernate. I had a problem with my Connected Standby a few weeks ago and it actually helped to shut down my Surface every night till some timer reset I think (I also made a post in the forum) Maybe it's something similar.

When I was away over Christmas I didn't have any of these problems. Maybe it's because I have a WHS 2011 in my Network? Or 5 Ghz n-Wlan.

I also have to say I'm more of a Desktop Guy and didn't use my last Notebook much, I used more my Nexus 10. But now I'm using my SP to replace both. So I'm not so adapted with Windows Mobile devices. My Desktops have strong CPU coolers so I don't notice when they clock up.

 

[ScottyS]

I have this problem but only in Windows 10 (and posted it on that forum but got no responses yet). But it is as you describe, fan runs constantly (and core temps run 170-180ºF) when the charger is plugged in, even when at 100% charged, but behaves normally when on battery. It has to be a throttling/power saving issue.

 

[Ryuuji]

I didn't have coretemp running when I noticed the spike. But my surface got really warm on the right side, so i suspect it did get pretty hot. I will have to run coretemp when I'm encountering the problem the next time

 

[macmee]

Happens to me too. I think its the battery warming up as its charging and windows probably goes into a different power mode when plugged in which allows heavier work to go on in the background

 

[Ryuuji]

Happens to me too. I think its the battery warming up as its charging and windows probably goes into a different power mode when plugged in which allows heavier work to go on in the background

That a very good explanation, but how can it be that only some people experience this and not other?

 

[Fabian]

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread here, but... was this issue ever resolved?

I have this very same problem with my Surface Pro 3 i7/512, W10 Pro. When charging, the fan runs continuously, and not at idle speed either, the whole machine gets very hot. And this happens even if I do not use it, it just lays there folded up making that wooshing sound. This is my second Sp3, the first one was replaced for a brand new one because of a cracked screen, and both of them have been very bad with battery life, in general.