Well, took some advice, and pulled the IR LED off the PCB, seemed to be only thing screwing up the works. Figured I could use the 555 circuit I made to test the IR module before I started this. Unfortunately, I'm using that breadboard for this project, forgot I ripped it up for this...
The weird thing I discovered... Kind of short on time, so figured I use the VCR remote and a spring clamp for a 38 kHz IR source. Pushed a button, the lights triggered from across the room. Runs through the flash cycle and then waits. Tried it a few times.
The only difference from the breadboard and PCB is where I put the resistor for the IR LED, didn't think it would make any difference, the load would be the same. The resistor could be 10 ohms instead of 100, the brown and black look kind of similar. Have to test it and see, has a free end now...
Should leave this for tomorrow, getting kind of late for me, but think I'm getting close.
Oh, should mention, using the same IR LED on PCB and breadboard, has a plastic shield, and the reciever set slightly behind. Also, tried seperating with a divider. Doubtful it's optically triggering the reciever.