Multiport set on Waste. Filter has low pressure, DE in pool

[brewking]

Hi Everyone,
Just had a 15 year old filter replaced with a brand new DE filter. My pool had too much water hardness, and I was told to drain 1 ft of water and refill.
Turned by Multiport valve to "Waste", and flipped the switch. I noticed that the filter pressure gage actually showed some (low) pressure. about 1/3 of the pressure I get when running in filter mode. Also noticed that a small flow of water was going back into my pool, and that water contained a lot of DE powder. After a while the water looked cleaner (probably because the DE was all in my pool) so I continued with the waste mode draining. The small amount of water going into my pool didn't really impact the drainage much.

Question 1:
Anyone have similar issues when using Waste setting on multi-port valve? Is it possible that I had the multiport valve set in-between two settings causing this behavior, or is that impossible?

Question 2:
Now that I have a lot of DME at the bottom of my pool, how do I remove it?

Thanks!

 

[HermanTX]

nyone have similar issues when using Waste setting on multi-port valve? Is it possible that I had the multiport valve set in-between two settings causing this behavior, or is that impossible?

Did they replace the multiport valve or the at least verify it was functioning properly? It appears you have a split spider seal in the multiport valve. This would allow water to seep between 2 different flow paths. This happens after the valve sits in a certain position for a long time.

 

[brewking]

Did they replace the multiport valve or the at least verify it was functioning properly? It appears you have a split spider seal in the multiport valve. This would allow water to seep between 2 different flow paths. This happens after the valve sits in a certain position for a long time.

They did replace the multiport valve. It is 3 weeks old. I was just wondering if it is possible that it is user error I didn't seat the handle correctly. Is it fool proof? The markings on the valve don't seem to be perfectly aligned with the handle. Not real happy with the company that provided the service through my home warranty. They said that the couldn't test it because the new PVC glued fittings needed to cure for at least a few hours (which is true), so I ended up having to reload the DME, and find these issues on my own. Now I have a call back with the repair company but it's been 1 week and they still haven't returned.

 

[brewking]

Okay, I answered my own question. Apparently I didn't have the multiport valve aligned correctly, I had to mess around a bit with the mutiport to figure out the exactly placement of the handle. It's not foolproof. Once I did, problem solved.