upon removing a piece of filament from the plate, a spot showed up that was much more reflective than the matte finish of the rest of the plate. is it removable or did i do permanent damage to the plate?
If it’s smooth and shiny like metal, it could well be you are seeing the plate itself. A resistance test to the edge would tell you. But if you look at it more low angle and see a hole, even if you aren’t seeing the plate metal, you’ll get a surface defect in your model if you print over it.
I don’t believe the PEI is removable/replaceable but could be wrong. See if you can buy sheets of smooth PEI in the store.