Faulty Power Connector

[johaas]

My Surface Pro 3 experience thus far has been quite the exercise in patience. I bought the 256GB i5 brand new on eBay for $1100 shipped back on the 10th of July. Received it on the 17th and noticed right away that it wasn't charging properly. I had a similar problem to the user on this post, where the charger would work some of the time if I were to apply pressure to certain areas on the charging plug, but only for as long as I held onto it. Lightly twisting the base of the connector toward me sometimes worked, as if the plug didn't fit in the Surface as snug as it should. The USB port on the power supply worked just fine, which I found odd at the time. The contacts on the Surface itself all looked okay to my untrained eye, so I contacted Microsoft support to get a replacement power supply on the 19th.

Finally today, after a surprisingly long wait in comparison to my other Microsoft Support experiences (myriad of issues with Xbox 360 and Xbox One hardware), I received a new power supply only to discover that the problem still exists. Finding it difficult to imagine that Microsoft sent me a faulty replacement, I filed a new service request and sent in the Surface via overnight shipping. The waiting wouldn't be so hard if I hadn't had a chance to use it a bit and discover just how awesome of a device it is.

Scouring through the forums I couldn't find anyone other than the aforementioned Surface 2 user who's had a similar issue, but it does sound like power supplies have been getting replaced left and right. Oh well...the curse of the early adopter.

 

[yonghong]

Maybe it's not you charger's problem, check your cheap SP3.

Sent from my 4318CTO using Tapatalk

 

[Bkr11]

I had an issue w/ my original power brick. I have 2 MS stores w/in 30 minutes of my house so I went to one of them the day after I bought it expecting a simple exchange. The gal wasn't exactly helpful...I almost returned the whole thing and rebought. Long story short the first brick she tried to let me test with was from a return and didn't work either. The second one (also open/used) did work. Rather than deal w/ brain damage I just took it and walked out the store. If you have a MS store nearby I'd suggest trying to take it in...obviously it's within the warranty period so they should help you out.

 

[Bkr11]

BTW, is the power brick USB charger working normally on the second one too? If so yonghong might be on to something. In my case with the faulty bricks neither the charging of the SP3 nor the USB charging off the brick worked.

 

[johaas]

Yeah, the USB port on both of the chargers work. I've already sent the Surface in and am awaiting the replacement (should be here Wednesday or Thursday). Microsoft wants me to send the original (allegedly faulty...I don't really know anymore) charger back to them, but I'm not sure which one works, if any.

The nearest Microsoft Store is probably about 4 hours away, so I never saw that as an option. I'll be up and running soon, I just wanted to see if anyone has had a similar situation.

 

[mortiefish]

I got my surface pro 3 256gb i5 just the other day and the same problem. Took it out of the box plugged it in to charge saw the light come on the charger and that was it. Couldn't get it to charge after that. MS is sending a replacement one so hoping that fixs it.

 

[JonathanWinbush]

I bought the i7 model at bestbuy and it wouldnt charge at all either. I took it back to the store and they just replaced it said several people had the same issue.

 

[johaas]

I bought the i7 model at bestbuy and it wouldnt charge at all either. I took it back to the store and they just replaced it said several people had the same issue.

I received the replacement several weeks ago and it works like a dream. Both chargers work just fine, so something was wrong with my original Surface's power port. Microsoft support comes through again! ...wish I didn't have to deal with them so often though, lol...