I've made a point of keeping it clean ever since it started, but it doesn't seem to help much.

One time I noticed the connector was wobbly, and I found a very, very small piece of metal in there. I had hoped was the source of all my problems, but I think I caught it right when it happened because it didn't fix the problem.

Getting that metal out of there took a good half hour of trial and error. That magnet is powerful!