Fuel gauge only working sometimes

I am about at my wits end with my gas tank.. This season my gas gauge decided to stop working- I put a stiffer spring in the reostat, made sure all my grounds were clean and proper, wiring to the gauge is fine, etc....I had an issue with the float not floating (this was an aftermarket sending unit), so I swapped in the brass float from the original sending unit....All was well for a few days, then the gauge decided to only work sometimes- while driving it might read, then all of sudden drop right to empy and not come back on until I shut the car off for a few hours....Now its not reading at all!!!

Wondering if I should just pony up for another new sending unit even though this one is only about 1.5yrs old...this gas gauge stuff is driving me nuts, and it already left me stranded once on the street! Tired of it controlling how I can drive the car, so was just wondering if anybody had similar problems or what I could try next to fix this.

Thanks!