Strange Sansa Wheel Issue

[Iggyspoon]

So I'm experiencing a very strange issue with my Sansa e280. When I first boot the player the wheel works fine. But after a few minutes the scroll wheel will no longer work while in Rockbox. It's not moving up or down or changing the volume level. But when my screen goes dark after a few seconds, the screen will light up again if I move the wheel. In other words, it's responsive but not being registered properly.

When I boot into the Sansa system the wheel works fine for a few moments, but then all input by the scroll wheel is registered as "up". So, even when I'm moving the scroll wheel down, I'm scolling up on screen.

I just got the sansa yesterday and I'm a little worried. Should I return the player or could this just be a software issue? Should I reinstall rockbox?

[Chronon]

If it has similar problems in the original firmware then this indicates a hardware issue.  It might be possible to fix it by taking the wheel apart and carefully cleaning the contacts.  It's probably wiser to return the player, though.