Surface Pro 5th generation won't run on battery

[timeshifter]

While plugged in it works fine. As soon as you unplug the power connector it goes off. Microsoft's support article says to clean the charger connector pins with an eraser and alcohol, which I've done. I've also blown out the port on the side of the unit with some canned air, nothing really came out.

Surface Pro (5th Gen) - 128GB i5 4GB M1796

Note that it seems tremendously slow to boot and get running. He has Teams and Discord launching on startup, takes about 3-5 minutes for it to boot and those programs to load. Memory is at 92%. May not be related, but thought I'd mention it.

Another step I've found is to remove and reinstall the battery drivers.

Battery system tray icon reads (71% available (plugged in)". It doesn't say charging, but I can't imagine its not as he's had this issue for several days and I've booted it several times tonight.

Note that it goes down hard when unplugged, just like a desktop would.

 

[timeshifter]

I used Device Manager to uninstall both devices under Battery, then did a scan for hardware changes and it put them back in. Then I rebooted. It's been stuck on "Getting Windows ready, Don't turn off your computer" for 30 minutes now.

edit: well it said "Don't turn off your computer" for an hour, so I turned it off. It rebooted twice and finally came back up. It still crashes the moment power is removed. It still says 71% charge level of the battery.

 

[sapphirescales]

Sounds to me like a dead battery. Too bad it's a Surface device. Educate your client on making better hardware choices and help get them into something repairable.

 

[Diggs]

edit: well it said "Don't turn off your computer" for an hour, so I turned it off. It rebooted twice and finally came back up. It still crashes the moment power is removed. It still says 71% charge level of the battery.

I've restarted quite a few machines that are saying "Don't turn off". I've never had a problem but you never know.

Just because it says 71% doesn't really mean a lot. It's just a voltage reading and says nothing about capacity. The fact that the charger can't push the voltage above 71% probably means one of the cells have shorted out. I've had them read 100% and pull the charging brick and they instantly shut down. Replace the battery and all is good. That said, I'll decline that type of work on a MS Surface. Heat gun and a pry bar to open. Sticky tape far worse than a phone? Then the fun really begins...... Pffft!

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I've never seen "go to device manager, battery...remove any/all entries under battery, and reboot...so Windows loads new battery drivers" work at all, never.

Only "trick" I've seen to get a battery that won't charge to start charging, is to power off laptop, unplug AC charger, remove battery, hold down the "on button" on the laptop for >30 seconds. Insert battery, plug AC charger in, power up. This resets whatever the name the device is that is in charge of charging the battery.

...else...it's a battery on its way out, time to replace it.

 

[NviGate Systems]

On early first gen Surface there was updates specifically for Battery, where this issue would happen. Also on RT units. But that was just first generation adopter issues.

Issues with current models will 99% be a bad battery.

Now, if your client really wants a Surface because of the form factor etc., get them to buy the extended warranty with advanced exchange, it's directly through Microsoft. They do send refurbished units as a replacement, but it's an option for the die hard surface lover.

 

[GTP]

Sounds to me like a dead battery.

This ^^
I had a Surface Pro with similar issue and replacing the battery fixed it.