Sky-Guy,
Looks like you answered you own question. FYI I bought my black box from Cabelas. Its made by pro-troll. The pro-troll boxes recently started showing up in the local stores (saw on at Outdoor Emporium for $99).

DeKuma,
If Downriggin's idea doesn't fix it, here is one other thought. One of the guys I met in Canada mentioned his Black Box wasn't working very well and eventually he said the wires going into the box came loose and fell out. Is it possibly, you have a similar problem....bad connection inside the box due to a manufacturing problem?

JMS