Pump and Filter leaks

Two separate problems. My pool guy disappeared on me so I'm basically trying to take care of things myself as best I can.

I'm getting a bit of suction on my backwash line when my filter is set to filter. I can tell because my blue backwash hose gets sucked in a bit. Without the hose I also noticed some dripping too.

I asked someone at the pool store and they said that it was probably the spider gasket in the filter head (Hayward sand filter). Is this something that I can repair myself? Do I gain access to it by simply removing the bolts on the top of the filter head -- or does the entire head have to be removed from the filter?


Second, I'm getting some leaking from the rubber tube that connects the return line to my pump. It's connected only with a metal collar. Is that how it should be connected? I've tried tightening the collar and I'm still getting constant dripping. How should I fix this? I've attached a few photos of what I'm talking about.

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/6...4520ep8.th.jpg

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/5...4519lx6.th.jpg

P.S. The water in the picture is from a recent rainfall -- the leaks aren't THAT bad ;^)