No, it is normal. The heating element goes off when the desired cooking temperature is reached. Once the temperature of the grill drops below the set temperature, the heating element will turn on again automatically. Please note that when the barbecue grill is heated at high temperature for an extended period of time, the built-in overheat protection will be activated. User may turn off the grill for a moment. Once it is cooled down, the grill can be restarted again.