I had a BD Remote I purchased last summer and the same thing happened - about three weeks after I started using it. I too live near the East Brunswick facility, but refused to send it back because they wanted me to pay for return shipping. I think it's a terrible policy for a company to expect a customer to pay for shipping for a defective item within the warranty period, especially as in my case, within 30 days of purchase. After several calls with Water Tech customer support, I returned it to Sams Club for a complete refund, no hassles or issues.
I will say though, while it worked, it worked great. I haven't replaced it with a new cleaner as I'm trying to figure out which model/brand to buy. I was hoping that my unit was a fluke, but based on some of these very similar posts, it appears that Water Tech may have a problem with QC.
Anyway, hope it works out for you. Try to to get Water Tech to pay for return shipping - it won't hurt to at least ask. And if they refuse, you can tell them that you'll return it to where you bought it for a full refund.
Good luck!