Definitely take cossie's advice, initial clean with tsp. Run some perc through the system afterwards then fresh water to flush. Day before brew day get your brewing water ready. Mash low, this will help prevent a starch/sugar buildup above the element. My mash wattage is 1700, I boil at 2100 watts with a hood, a 1 hour boil I lose 3 litres of liquor to evaporation. To grain I lose 800 ml per kilo varies with the grain, so I set my parameter at 850 ml per litre. I let the grain drain for about 20 minutes. Put the basket over a bowl while the kettle gets ramping up the temperature to boiling. It helps to lean the basket NSEW at intervals this ensures more liquor into the boil less of a loss to grain.
Make yourself a measuring stick, the volumes on the side don't include dead space. Before each brew I check the temperature and calibrate if needed. (this will be in your instructions). Not always necessary to calibrate, but don't leave anything to chance and check. There are other things to improve on the brewing in the Brew Monk but that is best left for later. Cut your teeth initially on advice given then work to improve the performance. As well as your own.
It is important to run perc through the machine after each brew, those return pipes retain a lot of sugary sweetness which earwigs and cockroaches love. Even with the clean it won't remove all the sugar. A fresh water flush at around 66 C for 20 minutes will hopefully get rid of any bugs. This is the opportunity to calibrate the temperature as well. I had a cockroach come out cleaning up after a brew, while there is no harm done it is very disconcerting.
Hope this helps.
