MES modification, 12x12 tile

I have an MES 40 with the glass stainless door. I saw a modification made by RonP suggesting putting a 12x12 tile in the right rear corner to dissipate the heat more evenly. It made sense to me to make this change, since there seems to be about a 10-15 degree difference between the right rear & left front of the smoker. I put in the tile fired up the smoker. It evened out the temp, but it seemed like it took longer to heat up. The good news is it also seems to keep the temp more constant. Where it used to go up & down 10 to 15 degrees it now only seems to vary a few degrees. I guess this is caused by the tile heating up & when the element kicks off the tile remains hot & doesn't let the temp come down so fast. I have ribs in now & will add beans later. I'll let you know how it turns out. If any of you have made this modification & have input please post it. There is one thing that scares me a little. I am aware of the problems with the heating element coroding & burning out. I hope that putting the tile over the top doesn't concentrate too much heat next to the element where the connections are.
Thanks for any input, Al