Power Cover Not Working

I have been a supporter of the Surface Pro 2 since release and while I had no problems with initial released Power Covers, THREE of the ones I purchased late 2016 all seem to have a problem in not charging, either instantly the Surface Pro 2 recognizes the device - at zero charge then jump to listing the full capacity and says the secondary battery is not charging but plugged in.

I have searched online with as best of a context given as possible. Since the Power Covers are fitted with the same consumer electronic lithium ion batteries, I searched with varying results on how to restore lithium ion batteries and all seem to give a general answer of plugging in the battery to a USB outlet adapter (which would mean taking a Surface Pro 2 type cover connector part, and soldering the power leads). But this is also the kicker, the Power Cover won't be in a charging state if the Surface Pro 2 itself is not in a certain sleep state (meaning there has to be a certain signal to the middle ball pins that itself is just another USB arrangement - to give some sort of signaling to the Power Cover).

Finally, no where online is there any information on the "wake up" voltage needed to wake up perfectly new in box, sealed, sitting for a long time Power Covers (situation you and I are in). Information online also states that Lithium ion batteries that sat without being charged are usually at close to near empty and would require a jump start if I deduced sources right to be in a charging discharging cycle again. I tried experimenting with a DC power generator and soldering the Surface Pro 2 connector part to the leads and tried adjusting the power but I have yet to "wake" up the Power Covers I recently bought.

If someone can chime in to as what the specification of the Power Cover batteries are, that would be extremely helpful in going to attempt to restore charging capabilities to the covers.

Well first off, if you purchased your surface pro 2 power cover from a reseller like Amazon, then there's a good chance your power cover won't perform as you want it to. As benjamin.hua explains, he hasn't been able to get his to charge despite trying to wake it up. I've bought and return two with no luck. It's like the reseller doesn't care if you buy and return for free on Amazon. Many complain that these units, upon calling Microsoft, are actually refurbished units far beyond their warranty period. The battery in the cover has been sitting discharged for weeks, months, even years so even if you get the Surface to recognize the cover, it won't do much more than be a heavy keyboard. BTW I'm typing on my surface with power cover. No the battery doesn't charge.

To address the issue of recognizing the keyboard, have you check device manager to see if it shown as an unknown device? Also try updating the firmware and windows update on the surface. Good luck!

Update:

Here are two sources of means of restoring a deeply discharged Power Cover.

Both involve removing the fabric and the subsequent plastic covering underneath.

Method 1:

This method is only for restoring the charge state. This method works, as I tried this with a hobbyist RC Lithium Ion cell charger that can do Lithium polymer (the Power Cover is configured in a two Li-Po sacks per pack, the whole cover is a two pack state.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comment...

Because this involves directly connecting at the Lithium polymer sacks themselves, this bypasses the sleep conditions that the USB keyboard sends back in telling when the Surface should charge the Power Cover. And because I am using the RC Lithium charger, and can program to the sack/pack profiles, the charger can safely turn off once these cells are conditioned and fully charged.

Should one uses a direct lead charge method of a hobbyist RC battery sack/pack charger, the Li-Po configurations is in two 3.7Ah, 3.7V packs. All four cells total to about 27.38Wh as a result.

Method 2:

This method COMPLETELY replaces the cells with new ones. But one has to manually know who supplies compatible sack sizes of the same voltages (3.7V per sack) before hand in direct ordering. One will need to know how to use soldering AND heatsink clips to prevent burning when removing the old sacks, and to prevent burning when putting in new sacks.

Amp-hour capacity is sack size dependent. One "can" have a longer lasting power cover at the expense of putting in larger sacks in replacement, but one has to deal with the form of the cover afterwards in containment.

This method is applicable if one already has worn cells that no longer has any usable lengthy charge cycles. It is split into two parts.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comment...

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comment...