Hello everyone, longtime espresso lover and first time buyer of a Lelit Victoria PL91T that I got on a decent sale for around $680. This is my VERY first machine. So excuse the ignorance. 

As I was unboxing the machine, I had a few questions. You will see in my photos there seem to be bits of dirt and some maybe old coffee backsplash. Also, on the webbed head nozzle that goes into the water reservoir there was a bit of dirt. I already wiped it off but wish I hadn’t. The hoses also had bits of dirt. 

Now I’m not a picky person, but was curious if these machines go through QA testing that maybe means they’ve made cups of espresso at the factory that might result in the pictured watermarks, or is this perhaps a refurbished machine and I wasn’t aware? 

  
Also, this water filter, does it go onto the longer hose? The hose has a strange V cut shape and so I have to force it on and want to make sure I’m not breaking the hose. Or should I place the filter onto the shorter hose? Does the filter work while the water is extracting, or does the filter always function to clean the water while submerged? Should I put the webbed filter back on the longer hose?

TLDR curious why my machine doesn’t look pristine and if that’s normal and also how to connect the water filter. Pictures attached. 

Excited to join the community. Sorry for the questions!! 

Questions on Lelit Victoria PL91T