Hi, Mark,

backwashing is done by moving a lever on the filter. when I move the lever, the backwash goes into the drain instead of the pool.
That's the valve we're talking about. We just wanted to make sure it has no other position than "backwash" and "filter". Many valves have several positions at that point including recirculate which does bypass your filter.

Sorry we got off the topic.

Anyway, unfortunately, I'm not a DE guy but you have something wrong with that filter. This post will bump you back to the top and get you noticed by a DE expert.