How many Surface power cords are a fire risk? 2.25 million in the US alone Microsoft has yet to go public on the number of Surface Pro power cords it is recalling over fire concerns, but the US Consumer Product Safety Commission has: it’s more than two million Stateside alone. As revealed last month, Microsoft claimed it received reports that cords for the first, second and third generation of the …
True, but the surface cables are a little more prone to damage than most. Having seen pictures of the replacement cable (I've not got mine yet due to issues with address verification) the replacement cable is the one between the wall socket and the power brick. On the original cable the figure-8 plug is hard plastic, with the wire able to be bent sharply against that plastic plug. The replacement looks to be a more typical (and least in the UK, can't speak for the rest of the world) figure-8 lead where there is a semi-flexible rubber section covering the first inch or so of cable - making such bending less likely.
It's probably possible to damage both types (or to avoid damaging both types), but the original surface cable does seem more likely to be accidentally damaged.
The original cable is also too rigid, IMHO. Mine has issues, even if I always tried to be careful, yet when you bend it to store it away, you have a feel "it doesn't like it", and it also tries to spring back to its straight form, unusual for a cable you need to carry with you.
Just I'm trying to understand if they're going to offer replacement cables in Italy as well.
Update: a replacement cord is available here in Italy too (and thereby I guess at least in EU), but you have to explicitly ask it yourself at the Surface support site (the one linked in the article). If your Surface had been registered, you just need ti check if your address is correct and select your registered device.
I never received any message from Microsoft about the risks and the replacement option - thanks to the Register for informing us.
Oh, balderdash!
I have extension cables in my garage that have seen abuse no human would survive, and they work just fine. No visible damage at all, and they're 20 years old.
Of course, they're made with many fine copper wires in each conductor and have neoprene insulation, as opposed to cheap thermoplastic and ten strands of heavier gauge copper-tin alloy wire per conductor.
You get what you pay for.
(or not) When I was a kid, we had these things called "telephones", made by a company named Western Electric. The part you talked into was connected by something called a cord. Constantly twisted, never replaced and always worked. It is perfectly possible to make a cable that will last almost forever.
Saw the issue highlighted on a website, determined that my SP3 power cord was one of those at risk, applied for a new cable via Microsoft's Surface support site and cable arrived by courier 3 days later. No requirement (as far as I can tell) to return the old one.
Problem identified, problem highlighted to users, replacements dispatched on demand/request quickly by courier. Failing to see the problem here myself, aside from maybe needing to contact all registered users via email.
I feel your pain. I sometimes try and order stuff from small UK businesses whose shopping carts demand a UK-style ZIP or nothing and Azathoth help you with the (mandatory) phone number.
The only way to continue a transaction at such a site is to put the real address in the "special instructions" box - assuming Nigel the Programmer remembered to put one in the form and fill out the rest with anything that will pass the idiot regex Nigel wrote to "protect" each field.
For me it's not asking me to select a state, but does want me select a city from a list. There is no entry in that list which is a valid part of my address. Not sure if I can be bothered contacting them to get the cable another way or if I should just dig in my boxes of spare bits - there's bound to be a figure-8 power cable in there somewhere (which is the part being replaced, not anything Surface specific).
just tried this from the UK
Are you on the MS UK site? Mine's been dispatched, no problem with needing to input a state.
It's kind'a nice actually, means I can keep the 'good' one in a bag and the dodgy one in the office (only ever plugged in when I'm there and the cable has always been stretched out), the bloody things cost £60!
Prediction: Long day at work, late home, feel like strafing some people in Grand Theft Doom of Duty, plug in wrong cable, engulfed in flames, amps up the arms and across the old ticker, end of story.
Wear rubber gloves and thick soled boots, and carry a fire extinguisher at all times.
Yes, but then they are heavier/bulkier which they would try to avoid in a portable device.
There's a huge difference between this (a cable that can possibly become dangerous if twisted too tightly as some people may do when packing up their stuff for travel) and the dodgy USB-C cable the Google engineer purchased on Amazon (destroys the device it is plugged into and is actively dangerous if it was to cause a fire as part of that destruction)
Microsoft is doing the right thing by replacing them all, so it is hard to fault their actions here. Since it dates back to the first generation Surface it isn't like this is a problem that became apparent a week after release.
1. So you carry your cable bubble packed in a styrofoam lined case when you travel ???
2. It's nothing to do with lighter/less bulky - It's to do with cheaper/therefore nastier.
3 "dodgy USB-C cable the Google engineer purchased on Amazon (destroys the device it is plugged into ..." No, they've got w10 upgrades for that.
I have a few "qualifying SP2 Pro and SP3 Pro machines.
It was a doddle to complete the registration process for each one. MS have confirmed the cords are dispatched so I expect to get them in a few days. No replacement is needed for any (non-Pro) Surface or for the Docking Stations.
There is NO return program. They advised me to dispose of the existing cords and there is no provision for return.
The tricky bit was getting a replacement cord for the additional power supplies I had bought. There seems to be no simple process form this and it took me about 45 minutes on the phone to get it sorted.
Good of Microsoft to offer me a new lead for my original Surface Pro which is quite old now. But as noted by others, it won't accept UK addresses!! And yes, I am on the EN-GB website.
It really is rather poor that no-one has tested the system properly. Makes one wonder about their other software products...
Now I have managed to place an order for a new power cord. I couldn't do it when using my normal browser (Chrome) as it wouldn't allow me to enter the address correctly because the drop-down to enter the town/region was empty.
I then had a moment of inspiration. I thought, "I'm on Microsoft's own website. Of course, I should be using Internet Explorer. Obvious". And it worked! Drop-down populated with UK towns and regions, all working correctly. Replacement cord ordered.
Now I'm wondering if this is some insidious plot by Microsoft to... Actually I'm not sure what I think the plot could achieve except to piss everyone off.
It wouldn't surprise me if the Chinese manufacture used a poor quality cheap amalgam with low amounts of copper for the cords' internal metal wire. It's a known common practice with cheap Chinese manufacturing. It would surprise me if Microsoft failed to look out for this or worse, knew it and looked the other way.
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