Scubadoo, Here's my take on the situation, I don't think it's a hardware issue. In my opinion the issue is a loose connection between the male tab on the element and female connector on the wire. In my case one connector/tab looked brand new while the other was toast (tab and connector).In fact all the wiring and connections I saw inside the unit looked new. I was impressed with the quality and workmanship- this unit is one and a half years old.
The connection that failed on mine was the shorter of the two wires, when I removed the element( from the inside before removing back panel ) the wire remained inside the cabinet- it was too short to pull out of the hole left by removing the element. After pulling the rear panel I thought I would have to replace the wire as it seemed too short to facilitate a repair but when I accessed the other end to remove it I found some slack- about 3inches.
My thinking is that wire was tight at installation and the small movement of the element every time the ash bin is emptied worked the connection and eventually caused enough slack for the electricity to arc and fail. I don't think the connectors pulled apart but loosened just enough.
When repairing mine I crimped the devil out of the female connector and had to use a lot of force to get them back together, I also left some slack in the wire as to allow the connection to flex a little with the element.
Well it's been about a month and I've got around fifty hours of smoking on the repair (and will be cooking all day today) and so far so good. Will post any further issues.
My advice, since you've opened it already, is to put a little slack in the wire, check the connector/tab for a good tight fit and have a female tab ready for the repair just in case.
My .02 hope it helps, Bob.