Slights leak, DE in pool, and brand new cartridge

[Fjvaughn]

Here goes.
After a few days of rough rain and leaves my pool, pressure was building and it was time to clean my filter. With my Quad DE, I get much better results taking the whole thing apart and hosing down the cartridges rather than just backwashing.
In doing that I put it all back together and noticed a significant steady leak coming from where the two halves of the filter meet. It also looked like there was a bit of DE and maybe some dirt (unrelated) in different sections on the bottom.
I reopened the filter to find that the o ring was badly torn in several places. I'm not sure if it was overtightened or wear and tear. I replaced the o ring with a new well-lubed one and it was seated perfectly. While I was at it, I replaced the 4 cartridges from the filter because I had spare new ones sitting around. After a while the water got crystal clear but there are significant amounts of DE filling the spaces where angles meet. In addition, there's the slightest drip coming from the area under the band on the filter.
I'm not getting into it till tomorrow, but I thought I'd ask tonight so I know what to check. I rotated my multiport and did a rinse just in case. I know there could be too much DE, but I use a standard amount that I've normally used, and I know that the filter cartridges may not be seated fully. These are just thoughts.
As for the slight leak, I guess I'll know when I open the filter again whether it's the new o ring is bad or if it's not tight enough. I've gone out of my way to not overtighten so just the springs start to touch, not tighter.
Any suggestions are helpful. Thanks.

 

[1poolman1]

Here goes.
After a few days of rough rain and leaves my pool, pressure was building and it was time to clean my filter. With my Quad DE, I get much better results taking the whole thing apart and hosing down the cartridges rather than just backwashing.
In doing that I put it all back together and noticed a significant steady leak coming from where the two halves of the filter meet. It also looked like there was a bit of DE and maybe some dirt (unrelated) in different sections on the bottom.
I reopened the filter to find that the o ring was badly torn in several places. I'm not sure if it was overtightened or wear and tear. I replaced the o ring with a new well-lubed one and it was seated perfectly. While I was at it, I replaced the 4 cartridges from the filter because I had spare new ones sitting around. After a while the water got crystal clear but there are significant amounts of DE filling the spaces where angles meet. In addition, there's the slightest drip coming from the area under the band on the filter.
I'm not getting into it till tomorrow, but I thought I'd ask tonight so I know what to check. I rotated my multiport and did a rinse just in case. I know there could be too much DE, but I use a standard amount that I've normally used, and I know that the filter cartridges may not be seated fully. These are just thoughts.
As for the slight leak, I guess I'll know when I open the filter again whether it's the new o ring is bad or if it's not tight enough. I've gone out of my way to not overtighten so just the springs start to touch, not tighter.
Any suggestions are helpful. Thanks.

What is the condition of the air-relief screen that sits on the tube that is in the middle of the manifold going up to the top of the spreader? Often overlooked and often the source of a DE leak.

 

[Fjvaughn]

Good question. What are some signs that it is bad? I thought sure I had it tight on top of the middle pipe. It is indented, so the opposite of what your image shows.
This is helpful. I’ll hopefully see something stand out when I open it tomorrow.

 

[1poolman1]

Good question. What are some signs that it is bad? I thought sure I had it tight on top of the middle pipe. It is indented, so the opposite of what your image shows.
This is helpful. I’ll hopefully see something stand out when I open it tomorrow.

Picture is the way it is supposed to look. You can reach in from the back and re-shape it to near original shape. Crushed means that the pressure in the tank was allowed to get high for too long.

 

[Fjvaughn]

I’ll try that tomorrow when I open it. It didn’t seem like it had enough flexibility to push it back to normal, but I’ll try.

 

[Fjvaughn]

Update: Took the filter apart and there was DE everywhere but on the grids. The bleeder screen was pretty well smashed in so I replaced it with a new one and made sure it was well connected to the standpipe. I also made sure that the top manifold snapped in tight on filter grids.
As far as the leak, the O ring showed no signs of damage so I cleaned it relubed it and put it back in. Ran the filter, added fresh DE and with a quick glance it’s probably working fine.
I’ll report back tomorrow to see if it’s working correctly.
Thanks for reading.

 

[Fjvaughn]

Here's an update. After a few days of brushing the pool and vaccuming with a robot, I thought the issue had disappeared. 24 hours later (today), I didn't do any cleaning and by the time I got to look at the pool, there are tracks of DE in it (pictures attached are not great), near the creases between transitions. I shut the system off and rotated the multiport 1 full turn, back to Filter and then turned the system back on. When I opened the bleeder, when the water shot out the top, it was milky white (DE?).
A few additional notes- pool water is crystal clear with the exception of the DE at the bottom, and I also replaced the spider gasket on the multiport valve last year.
HELP!!!