I think I'm having some deja vu. Last year some time, I got in a heaping argument over teaching fellow Clyde riders about using their thumbs and hands to "gauge" pressure so they don't need a gauge. One of my arguments was that half the time, most common riders had gauges that didn't go to 100 psi.

You prove my point again. Yet, on the Clyde forum I felt like I was the lone guy in the wilderness advocating self-reliance by intuition derived from guided experience first with some type of gauge.

In your case, I recommend you tried a different brand of gauge, or use one built in on a floor pump. They're all made in similar factories probably from China so we have no clue how accurate they are. But chances are you'll get one this time that might last longer... cross your fingers.