Thanks. I actually took out the spring and ball already. I bought a Robobrew false bottom, but after I got the false bottom I found out that there are two versions. Both work fine in an actual Robobrew, but the one I have is slightly too large to fit into the Grainfather. The one that fits is flat; the too-large one has several concentric, circular ridges. I ordered the correct one last week but it hasn't arrived yet.
A David Heath video on the Grainfather warned that taking out the spring and ball meant if you accidentally hit the pump button when nothing was attached to the recirculating arm, you might end up spraying boiling wort everywhere. Once I have the correct Robobrew false bottom, I'm planning to put the ball and spring back in. In theory, if the false bottom is effectively filtering, the valve shouldn't get clogged.