Surface 3 Charging

[TPadden]

This is an issue that would affect me since I plan to use it in a bag and carry the bag around a lot. If you plan to only use it on a desk and never pack it in travel bag with other items, then it is a non-issue for you.

"One big flaw is the fact that the on off button is reversed. IOW, to turn on the unit, one must press the on/off button for a brief period of time. To turn it off, one must keep pressing the button for quite a longer time. End result, the unit turns on at the lightest touch, and stays on without your knowledge, thus the lamp, if undetected, discharges the unit..... Be ready to carry flat, and do not move for the duration of your hike, travel, etc.?"

God am I ever lucky. I've carried mine on a motorcycle and camped; nothing blew up or caught on fire. Over the two week trip on one charge I probably charged my phone from it 5 or 6 times without incident. Won't do that again!

Did I somehow get on the MacRumors forum?????

 

[netuser]

God am I ever lucky. I've carried mine on a motorcycle and camped; nothing blew up or caught on fire. Over the two week trip on one charge I probably charged my phone from it 5 or 6 times without incident. Won't do that again!

Wow, your sarcastic posts!

I'm only trying to find something that will work for my use without problems so I don't end up having to return it and try something else.
The negatives listed by multiple reviewers look like it is something that might affect me since i plan to keep it a bag and the soft press button sticking out could very easily press against the side of the bag or other objects in the bag. This could have been prevented by making that button require some force to activate so it doesn't turn on the flashlight by simply leaning against another object in the bag.
Anker has another smaller model with no buttons that you shake to power up.
I read reviews that said that one wakes up to even small vibrations, but since that model has no flashlight that could turn on and stay on for hours unnoticed in a closed bag, the little indicator LED lights powering up shouldn't be enough of a drain to affect battery life. Only issue with that one is that the capacity is lower and I'm not sure if it will be enough.

 

[TPadden]

Wow, your sarcastic posts!

Although being told that I either swing my portable electronics by a cord or am so careful I only use them on a desk may have been serious posts, I mistakenly thought they were sarcastic and responded appropriately.

I sincerely hope your search for a product that works for you is successful.

 

[GreyFox7]

Please try to keep this thread about Surface Charging and leave the other stuff out.

 

[Dmcgrath009]

I was only offering my personal experience until I was told I was wrong.


On actual topic of the thread this portable charger seams to work well with the s3. Please not I javenonly used it while its notnin use I cannot speak to whether I stays charging while the screen is on.

I may order a USB watt meter to conferm its not having the same issues as the others

 

[netuser]

If the Surface 3 can normally get through 8 hours of use on the internal battery alone, we may only need the smaller capacity Anker that has no buttons to get accidentally pressed. The smaller battery pack could be used to add some extra use time on days when the Surface has heavy user (either more than 8 hours or else lots of Miracasting in meetings where the internal battery may only last under 4 hours.
I wonder if Velcro can be used to secure the larger battery pack in a bag so it doesn't shift around and end up with weight leaning on the power button?

 

[Pippin96]

So, the way Microsoft sold it, you could charge with any microusb cord and plug in. Left the Microsoft charger at the office this weekend because I thought I could use any of the umpteen chargers (including Apple ones) that I have at home with any microusb cord. Couldn't keep it charged. Haven't ever had any trouble charging other microusb devices or iphone cases.

 

[netuser]

So, the way Microsoft sold it, you could charge with any microusb cord and plug in. Left the Microsoft charger at the office this weekend because I thought I could use any of the umpteen chargers (including Apple ones) that I have at home with any microusb cord. Couldn't keep it charged. Haven't ever had any trouble charging other microusb devices or iphone cases.

It should very slowly recharge overnight with most Micro USB chargers if you power off the Surface.

 

[GreyFox7]

Attempting a full charge from shutdown (less than 4% remaining) using Anker Battery pack. (2nd gen astro3 12,800mah).
Power Meter indicated 2.3A from Battery Pack which appears to be the max draw from Surface 3.
After one hour I powered up briefly to check the charge level.
Battery was at 36.5%. Assuming there was 4% at shutdown we charged 32% in an hour.
When I powered up the current level dropped slightly to 2.26A and stayed there even after shutting back down.
Total on time was about 5 minutes.
The Battery Pack has a lighted circular charge indicator with 10 segments.
After one hour there were 4 segments extinguished... ~40% drained from the Battery Pack.
Only 3 segments remaining after 2 hours. Note: this is not a real accurate measurement
We are still charging at 2.26A.
This particular power meter also has a total charge indicator which after 2 hrs 20 min reads 5.224ah ~ 26wh. If I recall correctly ... need to check that... something seems off about this.
The current is beginning to drop reading 2.15A

According to the battery pack marking Capacity is 12800mah / 47.36Wh math doesn't work.

At the 3 hour mark:
Current from battery is now 1.3A and total power is 6.424 ah.
Based on previous charging taper measurements i'll estimate we should be around 99% charged.
Probably another half hour to go counting the extra time beyond 100% trickle charging before it's really done.

At 3 hrs 50 min: (need to wrap this here because I need to leave soon)
Current from battery is now 0.42A and total power is 7.000 ah. = 35wh
28wh/35wh = 80% efficiency.
In theory that's a little more than half the Anker battery capacity mah, they will have to explain the rest
we are showing 2 segments lit on the battery pack. 80% discharged which would come roughly to 10,240mah.
Surface Charge level is 97.7%

3 hrs 55 minutes: charge complete 100%. finished the last 2.3% while idle.

 

[netuser]

So, if we use that battery pack for 2 hours, it should add at least 60% charge to a Surface 3?

 

[GreyFox7]

So, if we use that battery pack for 2 hours, it should add at least 60% charge to a Surface 3?

While shutdown, yes I believe so. As long as it charges at that 2.2+A rate...
Sometimes the negotiation breaks down, total speculation, and when I connect something I get a low charge rate... I'm am unable to explain that. it might have something to do with the meter though. Physics, a particle under observation behaves differently than it's unobserved behavior.

 

[netuser]

When the Surface is plugged into the battery packs, it will be running as if plugged into to AC power. So, that means no Connected Standby and the automatic hibernate will be delayed for the plugged-in time instead of the on battery time. You will have to manually shut down to make sure it doesn't keep drawing a lot of power while charging.