Bradly smoker keeps tripping GFI

[Bomilk]

I have a bradly for about 8 years now and I finished cooking on it and left it outside overnight. When I plugged it in it kept tripping the GFI. So i took it apart and used my multi meter and found that there was a metal band on the right side around the element that grounded under the insulator that was touching the element causing the fault When I took it off and bent it out of the way the GFI did not trip

Question is can I get rid of that band? I noticed on some of the video's on line that no one else had one. Anyone know what this is and if it somehow faults out when the element goes out? I took the multi meter to the element and it test 30 ohms. if I touch it in the middle I get 8 to 10 ohms which makes sense.

I ordered a new element as this one has been in since I bought it eight years ago. Any advise is appreciated. Otherwise the metal is gone!

[TedEbear]

My element does not have a metal band, just the wires attached at both ends of it.  I believe you can remove it without any problem.