just in case anyone is searching for a solution to this issue, the problem apparently lies with the container, not the field. No amount of manipulation seems to fix it. The solution (See later post) is to create a new form starting from blank form, adding the text edit field as an expandable text field first, then migrating the features of the original, failed form by cut and paste one page or section at a time. It works to some extent, although there are still blob issues.