Multi Port Valve Gasket

[Davenj]

You can pick up a ball valve up the street at Lowes. Fairly inexpensive.
Near Cedar Grove school myself.

[Poconos]

Not so sure but at least a year ago the ball valves were significantly cheaper at Lowes comared to Home Depot. Same exact valves. From everything I've read on the forum over the years the blasted spider gasket in any manufacturers valve is a constant source of problems. The simple ball valve in the waste line is a cheap and easy fix. I went a little further because my waste line runs about 150' slightly underground to a stream and downhill about 10'. I added a check valve that vents to air so when I am backwashing and kill the pump the rushing and siphoning water simply bleeds air through the check valve so water flow from the filter is eliminated. The 150' of line simply drains out.
Al

[aquarium]

I recently replaced the spider gasket in a Baker-Hydro/Hayward multiport. I just used silicone lubricant to seat it in the grooves, so I expect it to eventually come loose during a switching operation. I wiggle the handle a little before changing direction so maybe it won't stick to the diverter, but this does seem to be a lame contraption. Glueing it in place just makes it -really- hard to replace. I might use a few small dabs of silicone -sealant- in strategic places to hold it in place when it fails again.

[Poconos]

Oh My Gosh....silicone seal? You're opening a can of worms. Just joking, you may find out that some here say you don't even need to stick it in place. Last fix on mine I used SS too. Only I cleaned out the channels, squished a liberal amount of seal in them, placed the gasket, then put a wax coated plastic sheet over the gasket...wax paper will work fine I now know, then bolted the thing together and let the spring force the upper part onto the gasket. Let it cure for a day. The wax paper keeps the silicone from sticking to the top part and silicone seal won't stick to wax paper. Use a box cutter blade or an X-Acto knife to trim off excess silicone and it's been holding just fine.
Al
PS: With silicone seal, duct tape, and PVC you can do just about anything.