Valley Odyssey controller issue

I'm using a Valley Industries Odyssey (not the II) controller and recently ran into problems with very aggressive braking that did not exist when I had the trailer out previously. It seems that it's close to all or nothing now, whereas when I used the camper several times previously, it worked perfectly.

Voice mail messages to Valley at 800-344-3230 (listed in their owner's guide) have not been replied to, so hopefully I can find some help here.

I troubleshot the unit as per the procedure in the manual, using a 12 volt automotive bulb. The directions say to use a 1156 but I didn't have any so I used one filament of a 55w H4 motorcycle bulb instead. Here's what I found, step by step:

1) Rotate Output setting knob clockwise toward rear of unit. OK
2) Move the manual activation lever to the left. The unit's LED display should indicate OC. OK, no problem.
3) Connect the bulb to the Negative battery terminal and move the manual activation lever to the left. The LED display should increase from appx 05 to 99. Actually, it starts from a minimum of 21 and I can manually back it off to 18, but no further. Will go to 99.
4) Release the Manual Activation lever. The LED display should now display only decimal points. OK
5) Repeatedly Press the Load Range Selector. The LED display should read L1 through L4. Adjust the load setting to L4. OK
6) With unit positioned horizontally, attach the Red wire to the positive battery terminal. The unit's LED display will indicate an output reading. The reading may fluctuate for appx 5 seconds. [B]I found it stays at 99.
7) (This may be a problem) Tilt the front of the unit up to an approximately 45 degree angle. The LED display should increase to 99 and the bulb should glow brightly. I found that it goes down to 05 then right to 35. Not right to 99 as indicated.
8) Retaining the unit at a 45 degree angle, slowly rotate the Output Adjustment Knob counterclockwise toward the front. The LED display should smoothly decrease from 99 to approximately 05. Note: The light bulb intensity will not decrease until the Manual Activation Lever is cycled. I found that the LED display goes from 45 to 5 then right to 20.
9) If the Odyssey brake control does not function as described in the steps above, return the unit...etc., for service or replacement.

It sounds to me like this thing is not working properly. But, since I can't get in touch with service, I can't verify and ask them if using a single filament of a 55w H4 bulb may give me bad readings.

Does anyone have any experience with this controller that can offer suggestions?

Also, any alternate controller suggestions that would plug into the existing Odyssey wiring?

Thanks in advance!