My AirPods keep disconnecting, usually the right but often both

Hello. I have AirPods 1. Quite often the right one will disconnect, though often it will be both of them. I'll be out walking my dog in the morning listening to Audible and all of a sudden it/they disconnect. It happens on the phone, too, so it's not just Audible or any specific app.

The interesting thing is that if I put them back in the case for ONE SECOND and then put them back in my ears, they'll start working again until it happens again, either 30 seconds or 10 minutes later. Rinse and repeat.

I've reset them, forgotten them, turned off bluetooth, cleaned them of earwax, etc.

I don't know if there's anything else to be done, or if they're just toast and need to be replaced.