I have an old spa (12-15 yrs). It is a J.E.M. with a hydro quip electric panel. It used to work - maybe 5 years ago but has sat empty since. I cleaned and refilled it. The pumps work - both low and high speed - but it won't heat. I tried running it for hours and hours but there was no change in temperature. I tested the heating coil elements with an ohm meter and it showed continuity. Then I checked the pressure switch leads (unhooked with power on) and the ohm meter went crazy. What could this be telling me? I have not checked the contactor switch yet. I don't want to buy a new element if that is not the problem. Can you help?

You say your ohm meter went crazy when checking the pressure switch? Hmmm. It should be either on or off. With no pressure on the pipe, (pumps off), it should read open circuit (infinity), with pressure, it should read a dead short (0 ohms).

Perhaps you can elaborate more on how you tested this thing?

With a little more reading up on how to test with the meter I own, I've learned that my heating problem is due to a contactor switch. There is power at the bottom of the switch but the contactor doesn't activate to send power to the upper part. Should be an easy fix, right? I won't know if my heating element is any good until I replace the switch. Thanks for your reply it was much appreciated.

Yes that's correct. You can test your heater element by doing an ohms reading across the two terminals, it should be somewhere between 9-15 ohms. But always do this with the power off or your meter won't like you very much.