Astral 6 port valve

[Lyric]

My pool pump/filter assembly has one of these. at the moment I have low flow from the skimmer and low suck from the vacuum as a result.
I have never known what all the selections mean.
'Filter', 'Waste', 'Closed', are obvious and all get used.
I assume that 'Recirculate' allows recirculation bypassing the main filter.
What, precisely do 'backwash' and 'rinse' do.

[Beachcomber]

Backwash reverses the flow of water through the filter to clean the sand. Rinse rinses off the debris left on top of the sand after backwash. The water used goes to waste.

You should backwash and rinse every time you vacuum the pool. If you have never done this it is not surprising that you have poor flow!

https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-backwa ... ol-2736842

[Lyric]

I have always backwashed after vacuum, and always to waste I think after reading your good self quite a few years ago.
Filter was replaced three or four years ago and has a glass substrate.
I will now go and repeat and rinse !

Thanks for the response.