From what I heard that plate is for the pumps thermal protection. Cutting it off may cause trouble and will void any warranty you have.
The metal is decomposing. Look at the two circled holes that rusted through the plate in the lower part of the picture.
Sounds like GenX is trying to avoid the fact the stainless steel they used us of a poor quality. I'll accept a replacement but only if it has NO metal parts on it. I won't let this issue be ignored until GenX does something to address this problem. Trying to make us beleive that metal ions are coming out of the water and sticking to the plate is rediculous and insulting to my intelligence.
