Session is supposed to be in db but its going to a cookie!

[eluser]otherjohn[/eluser]
Hi all,
I have an unusual problem.
For some reason the session data is being stored inside the session cookie and not the DB.
I followed the steps in the userguide and created the table, which is in the DEFAULT db in the database config. I have session as an autoload library too.
In config I have $config['sess_use_database'] = TRUE;
BUT
I see the cookie created and the db table shows NO user_data.

Any ideas on how I can track down what is going on?

EDIT: One more interesting thing.
It adds to the table the session_id,ip_address,user_agent, and last_activity, but still No user_data.

This is the line I am using to enter the session data in my controller.

Code:

$this->pageproperties->set_property(PPKEY_AGENT_ID, $id);

which is a library that has this function:

Code:

function __construct()
  {
    $CI =& get_instance();
    $CI->load->library('session');  // guard against not having it autoloaded?
    $this->store =& $CI->session;
  }


function set_property($item = array(), $value = '')
  {
        if (is_string($item))
        {
            $item = array($item => $value);
        }
    $this->store->set_userdata($item);
  }

[eluser]otherjohn[/eluser]
ok when I change in my controller from using my library object $this->pageproperties->set_property(PPKEY_AGENT_ID, $id);
to
$this->session->set_userdata(PPKEY_AGENT_ID, $id);
it works.

So why doesnt it work for my library.