Surface Pro 3 Pen not working

[79wjd]

I turned on my Surface for the first time in several months and I noticed that I'm not able to write with the pen. 

 

Pressing the back button opens One Note and it is showing up as a paired device in bluetooth settings (I even removed and re-paired it). I'm not sure what the issue is, but I'm assuming it can't be the battery since it is paired and since the one note button works (I also can't get a replacement battery atm, so I'd like to try everything else first). 

 

P.s. I also tried restarting it. 

[DarthDaveeous]

Check the tip for damage.

The tips are replaceable, just need to pull it out (like with tweezers). Many have been dropped at my firm and have same issue described due to faulty connection with the tip.

[79wjd]

1 minute ago, DarthDaveeous said:

Check the tip for damage.

The tips are replaceable, just need to pull it out (like with tweezers). Many have been dropped at my firm and have same issue described due to faulty connection with the tip.

It doesn't look like there's any damage, and would that prevent the pen from "highlighting" things that you hover over, or from unhiding the start menu if you hover over it? 

[DarthDaveeous]

Just tested on mine. Broken tip will show the hover, but not 'connect' to draw.

Draw something and see if the eraser will erase?
If both buttons work, eraser works, and the hover sense works, but the actual drawing with tip doesn't, then I would think bad tip.

[NZLaurence]

Sounds right, Remember the buttons and i think the eraser use bluetooth. The hover and the tip use the magnetic field detection thing (can't remember what its called but its not bluetooth). If the tip is faulty then hover can still work but the tablet will never see any pressure to draw.

 

EDIT:

It would seem that the battery in the surface 3 pen could be the issue as well.

Quote

Surface Pro 3[edit]

A new version of the Surface Pen was launched in 2014 with the Surface Pro 3.^[6] Based on technology developed by N-trig^[7] (a separate company at the time, though subsequently acquired by Microsoft),^[8] the Surface Pro 3 version lacks the eraser tip present in the previous generation; erasing is done by drawing over the ink strokes while holding down one of two physical buttons on the side, above the button used for right-clicking.^[9] A third button, located in place of the eraser tip, sends a Bluetooth signal to a paired Surface PC which instantly opens OneNote, even when the device is locked (although advanced editing functions are disabled in this case).^[10]Unlike the Wacom-powered Surface Pen, it requires two batteries: one AAAA battery for stylus operation, and two size 319 coin cellbatteries for the top button.^[11] The pen is included with all Surface Pro 3s but is also compatible with and available as an optional accessory for the Surface 3. It is also compatible with all subsequent Surface PCs, which uses the same basic technology.

 

Edited August 25, 2017 by NZLaurence

[Emmien]

I had this a few years ago.

There are two batteries in the pen, a button cell and a AAAA (four As)

 

The button cell powers the Bluetooth part, the other battery powers the actual pen movement. You need to get an AAAA.

 

[79wjd]

1 hour ago, NZLaurence said:

Sounds right, Remember the buttons and i think the eraser use bluetooth. The hover and the tip use the magnetic field detection thing (can't remember what its called but its not bluetooth). If the tip is faulty then hover can still work but the tablet will never see any pressure to draw.

 

EDIT:

It would seem that the battery in the surface 3 pen could be the issue as well.

 

 

1 hour ago, Emmien said:

I had this a few years ago.

There are two batteries in the pen, a button cell and a AAAA (four As)

 

The button cell powers the Bluetooth part, the other battery powers the actual pen movement. You need to get an AAAA.

 

Yeah, that solved it. I forgot there were two batteries in the pen.