mictosoft surface laptop not charging

[Beamin]

I have Microsoft surface laptop and having problems with the power supply. Its a weird power supply that magnets into the base of the computer, technically its a tablet with secondary battery in the keyboard that's detachable. The power supply has a led that comes on a second after you plug it in. Whats strange is if I take the figure eight plug into the power brick I can hear it poping as the led comes on but it has to be plugged and unplugged several times and it might turn on. Taking the plug from the computer doesn't seem to be the problem. I bought a generic 30$ plug on amazon has no led and doesn't charge the computer. This computer is my life line so Im very apprehensive to take it apart especially since I don't have my electronics lab until I move. Do you think the amazon power supply is junk? I have bad luck with amazon I think I should have bought the 100$ official power supply.

4

[IanB]

Can you take it back to a Microsoft repair shop? It might be the laptop that has a problem rather than the charger.

[Falkra]

A friend of mine had some similar issue, and he bought a generic power supply / charger from Amazon, that didn't help.
I found for him an old second hand power supply and it would charge either. After some time we have let the genuine charger charge it for a whole night, did'nt do much, then after 15 minutes in the freezer, the battery took a charge. 

Onhis tablet the battery was probably too low, and some protection circuit was cutting so it couldn't charge, something like this.

[Rasz]

Can you take it back to a Microsoft repair shop? It might be the laptop that has a problem rather than the charger.

haha
they are unrepeatable, you need dremel to upgrade storage etc https://hackaday.com/2015/04/28/upgrading-a-microsoft-surface-to-a-1-tb-ssd/

[IanB]

Can you take it back to a Microsoft repair shop? It might be the laptop that has a problem rather than the charger.

haha
they are unrepeatable, you need dremel to upgrade storage etc https://hackaday.com/2015/04/28/upgrading-a-microsoft-surface-to-a-1-tb-ssd/

They don't repair it, they exchange it for another one. I know someone whose Surface Book failed. He had to back it up, return it and get a replacement.

[Bud]

they are unrepeatable, you need dremel to upgrade storage etc https://hackaday.com/2015/04/28/upgrading-a-microsoft-surface-to-a-1-tb-ssd/

Amazing hack, literally! Thanks for sharing. 

[Beamin]

Can you take it back to a Microsoft repair shop? It might be the laptop that has a problem rather than the charger.

haha
they are unrepeatable, you need dremel to upgrade storage etc https://hackaday.com/2015/04/28/upgrading-a-microsoft-surface-to-a-1-tb-ssd/

They don't repair it, they exchange it for another one. I know someone whose Surface Book failed. He had to back it up, return it and get a replacement.

I figured I was on my own as I bought it at best buy and didn't buy a warranty. So is this like microsofts version of an applecare?I spent 1400$ on this hoping it would last me a while.


Whats really strange is I can get it to charge if I unplug the fig8/ac end of the power packs two plugs several times. Unplugging and replugging the lead into the side of the laptop doesn't seem to help as initially I thought the weird proprietary led/magnet/connector plug had the wires internally damaged, like normal plugs fail on laptops. Dell I'm looking at your plugs and the reason why I don't buy those! .

I ended up ordering a Microsoft authentic charger for 72$! I hope it works when it arrives. The generic one didn't even have an led in the modual. Garbage but not sure why it doesn't work unless its defective. How does a product know if its a real charger like on an iPhone?

[Rasz]

I ended up ordering a Microsoft authentic charger for 72$! I hope it works when it arrives. The generic one didn't even have an led in the modual. Garbage but not sure why it doesn't work unless its defective. How does a product know if its a real charger like on an iPhone?

its most likely bad battery, so thats $100 wasted already
modernish laptop charging circuits detect charger by the third pin. Apple/DELL have one wire eprom, Lenovos use resistor.

http://www.righto.com/2013/06/teardown-and-exploration-of-magsafe.html
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Power_Connector#Signal_Pin
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/dell-3330-laptop-adaptor-with-1-wire-comms!/

Its the computer, not the charger, that decides if its going to charge your battery.

> I can get it to charge if I unplug the fig8/ac end of the power packs two plugs several times.
Its possible old MS charger was tired (dried caps) and doesnt produce enough voltage anymore


more reasonable thing to do would be shoving multimeter probes between charger and computer, not buying one charger after another

[m3vuv]

I had one of these pices of microshite junk,it did the same,was pretty random tho,in the end i got a cheap chineese charger for it and flogged it,main reason for getting rid was it was win10 which i hate,it wouldnt run win 7.

[Beamin]

I ended up ordering a Microsoft authentic charger for 72$! I hope it works when it arrives. The generic one didn't even have an led in the modual. Garbage but not sure why it doesn't work unless its defective. How does a product know if its a real charger like on an iPhone?

its most likely bad battery, so thats $100 wasted already
modernish laptop charging circuits detect charger by the third pin. Apple/DELL have one wire eprom, Lenovos use resistor.

http://www.righto.com/2013/06/teardown-and-exploration-of-magsafe.html
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Power_Connector#Signal_Pin
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/dell-3330-laptop-adaptor-with-1-wire-comms!/

Its the computer, not the charger, that decides if its going to charge your battery.

> I can get it to charge if I unplug the fig8/ac end of the power packs two plugs several times.
Its possible old MS charger was tired (dried caps) and doesnt produce enough voltage anymore


more reasonable thing to do would be shoving multimeter probes between charger and computer, not buying one charger after another

Yes I'm realizing its not the charger as I have a brand new one and while its working most of the time its still being weird.

Right now I have the keyboard plugged in and the charger. The white light is on on the charger but according to windows neither battery is being charged and it doesn't even say "plugged in not charging" like some computers do.

Another thing is while its connected to the keyboard and sitting still or barley moved it will say its disconnected from the keyboard and go into tablet mode.

So you can't open these to repair them? Worst case I was thinking I could bring it somewhere to get the connector or what ever is wrong with it fixed. Its definitely a warranty issue but I got it at best buy and have the receipt somewhere it may be lost though. Its still in its 12 month warranty but I don't know how to use it.  1400$!

[Mr. Scram]

Yes I'm realizing its not the charger as I have a brand new one and while its working most of the time its still being weird.

Right now I have the keyboard plugged in and the charger. The white light is on on the charger but according to windows neither battery is being charged and it doesn't even say "plugged in not charging" like some computers do.

Another thing is while its connected to the keyboard and sitting still or barley moved it will say its disconnected from the keyboard and go into tablet mode.

So you can't open these to repair them? Worst case I was thinking I could bring it somewhere to get the connector or what ever is wrong with it fixed. Its definitely a warranty issue but I got it at best buy and have the receipt somewhere it may be lost though. Its still in its 12 month warranty but I don't know how to use it.  1400$!

Repairing it yourself is a desperate last resort. Make sure you find that receipt. If you don't Microsoft has a repair program. It's rather expensive but cheaper than replacing the unit outright.

[Rasz]

So you can't open these to repair them? Worst case I was thinking I could bring it somewhere to get the connector or what ever is wrong with it fixed.

dremel

Its definitely a warranty issue but I got it at best buy and have the receipt somewhere it may be lost though. Its still in its 12 month warranty but I don't know how to use it.

https://mybusinessservice.surface.com/en-US/CheckWarranty/CheckWarranty
did you pay with credit card? that is usually sufficient as proof of purchase

1400$!

Zune, various iterations of microsoft phones, PlaysForSure, etc. Never buy hardware from companies whose profit center lays elsewhere, like MS or Google. They have no incentives to make it a good experience.

[amyk]

I spent 1400$ on this hoping it would last me a while.

Sorry. You should've at least done some research before spending 1k4 on an unrepairable locked-down consumption device. I don't even follow tech news all that much and I remember hearing about "that glue-filled worse-than-Apple thing". For reliable computing, an old Thinkpad will last much longer and be cheaper too.

Zune, various iterations of microsoft phones, PlaysForSure, etc. Never buy hardware from companies whose profit center lays elsewhere, like MS or Google. They have no incentives to make it a good experience.

They made great mouses --- or rather, got Logitech to make them. I agree about everything else.