Hello pool gurus! I apologize if this question has been asked before. I found similar questions but none of the answers were helpful to me
and the set ups were slightly different. Here's the scoop:
Every year I clean the grids out inside of my D. E. filter. I did that this year no problem, even replaced all the grids and manifold two years ago. Everything
looked great during cleaning, no tears, no rips, no cracks, no nothing. I put everything back together like I always do and turned it all on. I put the new DE in
fine, no issues, all was good. Slowly over the last 2 months or so I have noticed that more and more of the dirt and debris that the vacuum picks up winds up coming
right back through the jets back into the pool.
I back washed, I took apart the whole filter again, checked everything again, put it all back together, added more D.E. and then it got worse. I have been doing this since
I was 12 years old and have never experienced this blow back issue. It is to the point now that literally anything it seems passes right through the filter and back into the
pool.
I am afraid to check out the spider gasket that I have been hearing about, which honestly I don't think I even have because my set up looks nothing like anything I have found on the internet.
In other words I have a handle that I can turn a quarter turn and pull up to backwash, not the style that has the handle on the top that you push down and rotate to a different setting. Also a
pool guy we had years ago who re-did our whole filter made a mark with paint on the top of some similar looking crank manifold and just said, "Don't ever move this from this position." So I have
no clue what that even is for or does.
Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
and the set ups were slightly different. Here's the scoop:
Every year I clean the grids out inside of my D. E. filter. I did that this year no problem, even replaced all the grids and manifold two years ago. Everything
looked great during cleaning, no tears, no rips, no cracks, no nothing. I put everything back together like I always do and turned it all on. I put the new DE in
fine, no issues, all was good. Slowly over the last 2 months or so I have noticed that more and more of the dirt and debris that the vacuum picks up winds up coming
right back through the jets back into the pool.
I back washed, I took apart the whole filter again, checked everything again, put it all back together, added more D.E. and then it got worse. I have been doing this since
I was 12 years old and have never experienced this blow back issue. It is to the point now that literally anything it seems passes right through the filter and back into the
pool.
I am afraid to check out the spider gasket that I have been hearing about, which honestly I don't think I even have because my set up looks nothing like anything I have found on the internet.
In other words I have a handle that I can turn a quarter turn and pull up to backwash, not the style that has the handle on the top that you push down and rotate to a different setting. Also a
pool guy we had years ago who re-did our whole filter made a mark with paint on the top of some similar looking crank manifold and just said, "Don't ever move this from this position." So I have
no clue what that even is for or does.
Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Sounds like you have one of the plunger valve set-ups like seen here: 
