I could use some help with a diagnosis. The Hayward DE filter in my pool has been clogging in just a few minutes (30) while trying to open the pool. I hosed it clear last fall, and recharged it yesterday at opening. I took it apart and have soaked it in 10% Muriatic acid for 24 hours, but I have also noticed that the DE was clumping and gathering at the top of the fingers. I've disassembled the filter entirely, and the tube sheets are OK, but there were 44 filter fingers broken near where they go through the tube sheet. They have varying levels of brokenness,some cracked, some severed. The linings on them are all in good shape. Question is, is it the fact that the filter hasn't been acid washed in two years, or these broken fingers that's causing the problem? I am debating this primarily because replacing 45 fingers is going to cost me about $300.00, and if the cleaning is my problem, and not these plastic cores, then gluing about half of them that are just cracked back together is an option I might take.