Surface book base battery not charging

Question

Hi, I have the first gen surface book. The surface book base battery does not charge when plugged in. The led light on the connector lights up but the battery indicator status neither show that it's plugged in nor charging. This is only for the base battery as I can still charge the clipboard when I detach it and plug in. I have tried the uninstalling the battery drivers but it does not work.

Answer 1

Hi, 

I have been experiencing this battery problem for more than half a year. My Surface Book is only slightly more than 2 years old. I noted that many customers have faced the same issue but so far most of the threads ended up not resolved (including mine), which is extremely frustrating. 

I am going to give it a shot again regardless to see whether there is any hope of me still trusting Microsoft products in the future. 

I purchased Surface book in December 2016. 95% of the time it is plugged in. Earlier this year, I started noticing that both battery 1 and 2 are not charging despite being plugged in. I discovered this because my laptop started to randomly shut down presumably due to the plugged in power switching to battery momentarily for not sure what reason. It happens very regularly until I got very frustrated. This is how I discovered that the batteries are not charging. 

Since my wife has a Surface too, I swapped the adaptor to test out whether this is due to adaptor issue. Battery 1 managed to charge with the other adaptor but not battery 2. When I revert back to my adaptor, battery 1 maintained 50% battery life but battery 2 is still 0%. As such my laptop is now becoming a desktop as it relies on being plugged in all the time. 

I contacted Microsoft Support few months ago on the problem. I have done everything stated on the Microsoft website but in vain. 

I am now questioning whether this is a major hardware issue that Microsoft is not admitting or it is merely a software problem that Microsoft can't be bothered to investigate for older Surface Book? Never in my life have I purchased a laptop where the battery is 0% after 2 years. I was very excited to own my first Surface Book but my trust in Microsoft products is now wearing thin with this experience including poor support and customer service. 

If I can't get a satisfactory answer or solution from Microsoft, unfortunately this will be the end of my journey with Microsoft hardware. There are too many people with the same problem unresolved. I am sure they are equally as frustrated.

Answer 2

Hi, I have the first gen surface book. The surface book base battery does not charge when plugged in. The led light on the connector lights up but the battery indicator status neither show that it's plugged in nor charging. This is only for the base battery as I can still charge the clipboard when I detach it and plug in. I have tried the uninstalling the battery drivers but it does not work. 

Hi ashg3,

Thanks for your awesome patience on this and for bringing this issue here at Surface Community. We appreciate some troubleshooting steps that you tried specially in trying to uninstall the battery drivers.

You can try to check this steps here below:

Recommendations:

Please try to Permanently delete the Battery Driver of your Surface Book. Then download the Firmware and Driver. Once you click on Download please refer to your OS Build you will be guided on what to chose. 

(Just go to Windows Icon on your Taskbar then type directly "Winver")

If the issue persist, please make sure your device updated (Windows Settings> Update and Security>Check updates).

Other wise, you can go on doing a Fresh Start. 

To use Fresh Start, select Start Windows logo Start button > Settings Gear-shaped Settings icon > Update & security Circular arrows Sync icon > Windows Defender > Device performance & health. Under Fresh Start, select Additional info > Get Started. 

Note: Fresh Start will remove most of your apps, including Microsoft Office, third-party anti-virus software, and desktop apps that came pre-installed on your device. You will not be able to recover removed apps, and will need to manually reinstall these apps later. You may also lose your digital licenses and digital content associated with apps, which may impact your ability to use these apps or app-related content you paid for. 

Just in case the issue still the same, we highly recommend in proceeding on Resetting your Surface book device. You can proceed on "Remove Everything" or "Keep my files"

Proceeding on doing a Recovery Imaging the device will be an option if those recommendations above wont fix it. 

Please us know if this helps by keep on posting..

Regards,

Edd