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Hi I’ve just replaced an SP3 screen. I’ve done a number before without issues. Prior to replacement the screen was cracked and the display froze on the surface boot logo. Sort of as if the bios were engaging but couldn’t find the drive to load up the OS. prior to removing the screen I waited until the battery was dead and then went ahead. the screen came off relatively easily, no trauma to any cables apart from the digitiser, which was dead anyway. in cleaning the edges of adhesive I tore the copper strip on top of the USB port - but that’s replaced now and certainly no damage to the physical port underneath. I now get no response from the hardware at all. no screen light, but also nothing hardwareish like the fan going or the processor warming etc. I’ve tried hard resets and i’ve tried booting to UEFI and to a usb image. all without any noticeable change. this is not a DOA screen as the old screen is exhibiting the same behaviour. the charge port works fine. I’ve measured the voltage of the battery before (7.4v) and after (8.7v) charging and the top right of the tablet gets warm after a chunk of time on charge. the keyboard lights up as well; and is responsive to the caps and Fn keys (the light turns on and off). any clues about where to search for issues? Anyone know where I can find the circuit schematics to trace the power lines?

Plug your surface into an external monitor. It seems your ribbon cable for the screen is fried. It will work plugged into a tv with a mini display port to hdmi cable. When your screen broke and you booted it up without a decent working screen the driver snafu ed itself. I’ve had this happen many a times. After you get the new ribbon cable. Do a fresh install of windows with fresh drivers from Microsoft website.

I just fixed my black screen by replacing the LCD spacer between the flex and the board!!!! It works again!!!!

I highly suggest going over the pins and contact plates for the display and battery connector. I had the same issue with a repair and it turns out one of the pins for the battery contact board ended up being scorched.

Curiously I have replaced the motherboard with a known good variant and it is still refusing to turn on. Two different screens and two different motherboards. The only commonality is the power switch and the battery. Battery appears to charge adequately. So I assume it is functional. Very odd.

Did this ever get resolved? I’ve got the same issue after I removed my screen. The shim is on the power connector. I get no power to the device whatsoever.

Nope. Never resolved. I think the answer lies in a mosfet blowing. But without the schematics it is very difficult to tell. I’ve tested all the resistors and fuses on the boards that I have and they all seem to be conductive, although of course without schematics I cannot tell whether there are any that are partially failed and therefore at the wrong value. If anyone has copies of the schematics online I can test further.

I lost the LCD contact shield plate when putting on the new display (alias shim referenced above). I have been unable to find where to buy one and was ever so hopeful someone could direct me to a source.

I have removed and replace the battery leads and the SP3 still indicates that there is no battery installed. I received another new battery and installed it and the same scenario! It just doesn’t recognize the battery. When I took it apart, all was working fine. When I put the broken screen in, it still works… When I put the new screen in, it still works. But both batteries are showing on the screen, that there is no battery installed.

Hello everybody, i replaced dhe screen on the SP3 and at first the screen was ok but the touch didnt work, so i detached the screen to see if there was some problem and i re-installed it back, tried to turn it on but the device was dead! wtf? I’ve been careful enough when installed and uninstalled the screen, i dont understand! Tried everything to restart it but nothing.Thanks who will help me