Hey Chuck,
Ya know to me the running the filter without DE always seemed like a big issue since what I've read had warned against doing it for more than a couple of mins.

BUT this is a non issue now as I said screw it and bought myself a brand new Hayward pump and sand filter. I can now see the bottom of my pool, woohoo! Still have some dirt/leaves in the bottom but hey I can at least see it now. All the rain we've had was actually good for me as I had to backwash so much the extra water was needed. Maybe I could of spent more time futzing with my filter but in the long run DE seemed like a pain in the ass anyway so I'm pretty happy with my purchase.

thanks
Ryan