How can I increase efficiency?

[Dog House Brew]

If your crush is filtering correctly, doubt it does anything extra. Can't hurt anything I wouldn't think. I use a copper manifold, so what do I know.

 

[Bassman2003]

How does having a braid and a false bottom cause inefficiency? My thought was that the braid would filter any particles that went through the false bottom making a clearer wort. I didn't think it would prevent sugars from getting rinsed. But I've been brewing for about 2 years so I don't know

The grain does all of the filtering. False bottoms, manifolds & SS braids just keep the grain in one place to let it do its thing. The particles that need to strained out for clear wort are very small.