Thank you so much for responding. It seems like it's two steps forward, three steps back.

My pump is operating, but the water coming out of the returns is bubbling like a caldron. Should I run it all night or turn it off. Will it burn up without the filter filtering? Or with de in the water?

I don't really understand the process, that's probably at the root of everything. If the water goes out the pump, out the returns, doesn't it then go back into the filter? Why isn't the DE sticking there? Because of the hole?

K