Same thing happened with my stud finder. Thought it was broken until I tried it on a wall without insulation. Turns out it just hates modern construction.

Alternating weeks sounds good on paper, but it can really mess with the flow of a story. You lose that thread of what happened last time, especially if a session ends on a cliffhanger. Laura's point about burnout is real, but maybe the fix is shorter story arcs instead of a total break. My group found that planning a campaign to last only ten sessions keeps things tight and leaves room for a palate cleanser after. It feels less like a huge commitment that way.

Never had one fail on me.