Yes my early model mes 40 went belly up. With 12 smokes under it's belt the element is toast. Read lots of complaints of them being notorious for burning up. To bad it was after I bought one. So it was just of matter of when. The good news is I can rebuild it. Make it better, faster, and stronger then it ever was before. All I have to do is replace the cheap wiring with 12 gauge and upgrade the 800 watt element to a mes 1200 watt element. That will also solve the problem's of being weather challenged. Should be a fun little project. Thank goodness I have 2 more smokers big block gosm an my TBS house.