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Surface Docking Station 2 heating issue

Anonymous
2020-09-03T15:54:58+00:00

I have been reading about overheating issues with the surface dock 2, but haven't found any solutions. I have a Surface pro 7 that I use with the Surface dock 2. I bought it specifically for my zoom piano/voice lessons. Previously, with my Surface pro 4, I was using a Kensington docking station. 

I use 2 logitech cameras and an external monitor, in addition to a digital piano (midi connection) and running various software programs on the surface pro. The CPU, Memory, disk, network and GPU numbers are all well below parameters - a thing of beauty. Very pleased with the Surface Pro performance! I got the docking station so I wouldn't have to plug in so many things into the Pro.

The problem is the docking connector is running really hot! I mean to the point of freezing up the Pro - not cool in the middle of a lesson! I've checked for firmware/software updates and everything on my end is up to date.

Are there any other solutions besides updates? Have you had issues with faulty connectors? I don't want to ruin this beautiful surface pro 7 with a faulty docking station that was supposedly designed for it.

When I'm at my desk, I have the surface pro connected to 2 external monitors, and have several programs open, using a Dell docking station that connects via USB 3. No overheating issues whatsoever. I'm inclined to ditch the surface docking station and just buy another Dell, but I was hoping something specifically designed for surface would give me optimal performance.

Would appreciate any feedback you might have.

Surface | Accessories | Surface Dock

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-11-19T02:45:57+00:00

    Headline: I now use the Kensington SD5750T Thunderbolt 4 Docking Station for Microsoft Surface Pro 8 and Surface Laptop Studio

    Details:

    I have a Surface Pro 8 and previously a Surface Pro 7+. I had to downgrade my webcam to 360p to prevent my Surfaces from shutting down during video calls due to overheating of the Surface Dock 2.
    This dock uses one of the two USB-C ports on the right of the Surface Pro 8 to both connect the dock and charge. I'm now back to using Full-HD on my webcam, the Surface is only slightly warm. While the blade that connected the Surface Pro 8 to the Surface Dock 2 would get almost untouchably hot, this Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) connection is room temperature. The quality on my TV I'm connected to is great running at 4K.
    I plan to purchase a second on. I use this one at home and would like to have one like it in the office too.

    I see that Microsoft has been out of stock on the Surface Dock 2 for several months. Perhaps they are throwing in the towel on that and either leaving docks to third parties or are going to come out with a new model that might work.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-04-02T16:31:26+00:00

    Hi, Mariam McFalls!

    Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Community and posting your concern regarding the Surface Dock 2's connctor.

    The Surface Dock 2 features an active cable head and power delivery of 120W to host which is twice that of Surface Dock 1 at 60W, these two factors contribute to an increased temperature of the Surface Connect connector head during charging. The increased warmth is expected and does not represent a safety issue under normal operation. This is normal and within the safety guidelines. 

    If this answers your question, please let our Community know by marking this post as an answer. Otherwise, don't hesitate to respond to this thread if there’s anything else that needs to be addressed.  

    Kind regards, 

    Janette_Z

    Its my day one with Dock 2 and its overheating issue is the reason , I checked this forum.

    I own a Surface pro (5th Gen) and Surface Book 2 and now I am wondering whether to use this Docking station ? 

    Although I have used the dock with minimum add-ons - if thats the definition of " normal operation".

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-07-01T03:04:00+00:00

    Trash response. What's the fix? This is completely unacceptably hot and degrading performance.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-07-29T15:10:38+00:00

    Headline: This workaround only supports Surface Pro 7 and Surface Pro 7+ and only one external monitor.

    I guess I should say more.

    The USB-C port will not drive a display. Only one display port - VGA or HDMI - will work on the travel hub (with HDMI taking precedence). With both plugged in, only HDMI works. So if you only need one monitor, the USB-C Travel Hub if you're on a Surface Device that has the USB-C rather than the mini-Display Port (Surface Pro 7 or 7+).

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-09-03T20:58:19+00:00

    Hi, Mariam McFalls!

    Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Community and posting your concern regarding the Surface Dock 2's connctor.

    The Surface Dock 2 features an active cable head and power delivery of 120W to host which is twice that of Surface Dock 1 at 60W, these two factors contribute to an increased temperature of the Surface Connect connector head during charging. The increased warmth is expected and does not represent a safety issue under normal operation. This is normal and within the safety guidelines. 

    If this answers your question, please let our Community know by marking this post as an answer. Otherwise, don't hesitate to respond to this thread if there’s anything else that needs to be addressed.  

    Kind regards, 

    Janette_Z

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