AutoCompleteExtender seems to stop functioning after losing focus

I love the AutoCompleteExtender and have used it before with great success. My new boss noticed something he doesn't like though, and unless I can get it figured out, he is going to have me scrap it for something else - yikes! Here's the scenario : I click on the textbox, type in the first 3 letters - we'll say "pat" for this example - and then the list of names matching those first three initials comes up. Great so far.

Then, without selecting anything or changing the text in the box, I click away from the box (just on blank part of the page for example). Now, I click back in the textbox, type in "pat" again - expecting that the list will show up again. BUT - nothing comes up. Now, if I type one more letter, say 'patt' for example, then results are returned. But with the same character combo, nada. I have also noticed that if I move away from the page for awhile, 10-15 minutes, and come back, it stops responding as well.

Has anyone else experienced this, and if so, did you come up with a solution? If so, I would love to hear it. I REALLY don't want to force a page refresh or something, as I am sure my boss is NOT going to like that. Any sugg开发者_Go百科estions are greatly appreciated.

Oh - and I tried adding a little JavaScript to forcibly clear out the textbox onlbur - no dice - still doesn't bring up any results in the above scenario.