This year we must have more Christmas decorations because we ran out of lamp modules. So, I dug out the box of “problem” units, thinking I would do some troubleshooting. These modules haven’t seen the light of day since we moved here 4 years ago. Two were the old brown BSR lamp modules, and two were newer Powerhouse units.
Surprisingly, the two brown BSR modules now work fine. They were probably retired because they wouldn’t work in some areas of our last house. Apparently, the stronger signal from the XTB-IIR has solved that problem. The two Powerhouse units had a lot of internal corrosion, probably from being used for outdoor Christmas lights back East. We had wrapped them in plastic, but that apparently did not stop the internal condensation. Cleaning with alcohol and a brush, followed by compressed air, and re-lubricating the switches brought one back into service. Unfortunately, the case was also broken on the last one, so that will be kept as spare parts.
Update - Tenax-7R solvent welded the broken screw posts back together, so even the last one is back in service.
Considering some of these are almost 30 years old, that's not bad reliability.
Jeff