Multiport & Backwash Valves

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About Multiport & Backwash Valves

Complete valves from Pentair, Hayward, Praher, Jandy, Sta-Rite, Waterco and Waterway, in six and seven position, top mount and side mount, in 1.5 and 2 inch. Bodies in ABS, PVC and PermaGlass XL. Most listings here name the filter the valve was built for, from Pentair Triton, Quad DE and Tagelus to the Hayward S160 series and the Jandy DEV and JS ranges, so you can match on the filter rather than on the valve.

If the valve body is sound and one piece of it has failed, the keys, handles, covers, spider gaskets and rebuild kits are in filter valve parts. Whole filters are in pool filters, and the diverter, check and ball valves that live out in the pipework are in valves.

Questions about Multiport & Backwash Valves

What does each position actually do?

Filter is the everyday one, down through the sand or grids and back out. Backwash reverses the flow so dirt lifts off the media and leaves by the waste line instead of the pool. Rinse runs the normal direction but still dumps to waste, which settles the media so the first minute of filtering is not cloudy. Waste bypasses the media entirely, which is how you vacuum something you do not want in the filter and how you lower the water. Recirculate moves water round the pool without filtering it. Closed shuts the valve. A seventh position, winterize, parks the internals clear of the seats.

Top mount or side mount?

Look at where the handle is now. A top mount valve sits in the opening on the lid of the tank and the pipes come off the sides of the valve itself. A side mount bolts to a flange partway down the tank wall, and a tall sand filter with the pipes near the bottom is usually one of these. The two are not interchangeable and there is no adapter, because the port that the valve seals against is in a different place. Several of the top mount valves here clamp on with a two piece ring rather than threading in, which is the other thing worth checking before you order.

How do I know it will fit my filter?

Start from the filter, not the valve. Most of these listings name the filters they were built for, so searching the filter model is more reliable than searching the valve. Failing that, three measurements settle it: the mount, top or side, the pipe size, 1.5 or 2 inch, and how the valve attaches, threaded, clamped or bolted to a flange. A valve from the same maker as the filter is the safe bet, and across brands it is worth confirming rather than assuming, because the thread and the port spacing are not standardised between them.

Why does everyone say to turn the pump off first?

Because of what is inside. The handle rotates a part that presses against a soft star shaped seal, and with the pump running there is pressure holding those two faces hard together. Moving one across the other under that load tears the seal, and once it is torn water crosses between ports inside the valve, so you get water going to waste while you are filtering. That failure is the most common reason a multiport valve gets replaced, and it is caused rather than worn. Switch the pump off, move the handle, switch it back on.