What's new

SP3 turning on too easily in cover/case

Anyone else having this happen? Have had a variety of cases/sleeves/covers, and more often than not, my SP3 will turn on at some point during travel, so that when I take it out in class it's lost 20-30% battery, and is super hot from being trapped in my bag without proper airflow.

Not talking about waking from sleep either - a full shut-down, and somehow that power button gets pushed in a bag full of books. Wish there was some sort of 2-step unlock or something...
 

daniielrp

Active Member
Anyone else having this happen? Have had a variety of cases/sleeves/covers, and more often than not, my SP3 will turn on at some point during travel, so that when I take it out in class it's lost 20-30% battery, and is super hot from being trapped in my bag without proper airflow.

Not talking about waking from sleep either - a full shut-down, and somehow that power button gets pushed in a bag full of books. Wish there was some sort of 2-step unlock or something...

Never had this, but my SP3 is kept in a separate pocket in my bag, so no chance of anything pressing the button.
 

Zog1971

Active Member
Hmmm. That's curious. Just so you have another frame of reference, I travel 5 days a week with my SP3 in my backpack to and from school. I also shut it down, put the keyboard case on, and put it in a nice form-fitted sleeve. Even though the power button I suppose could still get pushed, I have NEVER had the SP3 turn on in my bag--and it gets tossed around quite a bit. I can't test at the moment, but I'm not sure my SP3 would even turn on with the type cover attached and shut. Even if it did turn on, wouldn't it go right back to sleep since the cover is shut? I will try to test this out later since I don't have access to my SP3 right now. I just reread the OP's post and perhaps you are not using the type cover--so that may be our difference.
 

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
Just from your description it does sound as though the power button is getting depressed somehow.
Id look at and be careful of how things are positioned in the bag to prevent this. another option might be to use a case that has high sides around the power button or a hard protective case which you may have already done, reading into your post. Lastly make a custom button protector... such as a grooved piece of wood notched over the power button that fits over the edge and ends to prevent sliding .

I don't know how it would be possible to activate the device via the capacitive touch button while in the bag... you'll need to employ a CSI investigator for that. :)

Alien bag occupation. In the event of an alien taking up residence in your bag you'll need to proceed directly to area 51 for further instructions. Call the number that appears on your device when you arrive and reference case 227. :D
 

Moonsurface

Super Moderator
Staff member
I haven't had this either, I use a thick padded sleeve, and generally I never shut the Surface down, I just close the cover and that's it. Let it do it's own thing. I looked at the Sleep study on mine and it was fine.

Might be worth having a look at the sleep study, even though it's properly shutdown, it might show when it woke up (time etc).

Open cmd in administrator mode and type powercfg sleepstudy it saves a file in the folder you were in when you entered the command.
 

bluegrass

Well-Known Member
I was occasionally having it happen in my Waterfield bag. I decided to try it with the power button at the top of the bag instead of the bottom and it hasn't powered on accidentally since.
 

olimjj

Active Member
FWIW I have made a low tech, low cost workaround, to the power button on the Surface 1 &2 (I wish they had recessed it a bit more) being inadvertently pressed at inopportune times. For example, careless handling, movement or inadvertent contact in my carry case etc. These events can lead to battery draining and/ or heating up excessively. It provides a margin of safety for these events as well a quick tactile locator in obvious situations.

Material: Velcro adhesive strip (plastic textured surface)
Cost: < 1$ YPMV
Shape: Rectanglar
Outside dimensions: 20mm x10mm
Inside cutout dimensions: 12mm x 5mm
View attachment 1691View attachment 1692View attachment 1693
 

olimjj

Active Member
That almost looks good except I cant make out how you implemented it.

This was for my SP2.


wp_20140224_005-jpg.3570
 

malberttoo

Well-Known Member
That almost looks good except I cant make out how you implemented it.

He took the stiff/prickly side of some beefy self-adhesive Velcro, and cut a hole out to match the power button area. Then stuck it on there. That way the Velcro is actually a tad bit higher than the power button itself, and now the button can't be actuated unless a finger is pressed straight in.

Unless I missed the point of your question...
 

olimjj

Active Member
He took the stiff/prickly side of some beefy self-adhesive Velcro, and cut a hole out to match the power button area. Then stuck it on there. That way the Velcro is actually a tad bit higher than the power button itself, and now the button can't be actuated unless a finger is pressed straight in.

Unless I missed the point of your question...
I would be hard pressed to describe it any better,

BTW I have not had any incidents since implementing this
 
Top