So it was back to Kijiji to find another pump in yet another faulty machine: a Krups coffee and espresso machine model 874. Upon reassembly, I managed to cross-thread it with its mating part-an over-pressure return valve Tee fitting pictured to the left. The recovered Ulka EP5 pump has a plastic outlet connector that is 1/8″ BSPP threaded. I kept a few other small parts that might come in handy in the future such as wiring and plumbing and recycled what I could finally tossing the remainder into the trash. I offered $10, picked it up and tore it apart for its pump. I kept iterating through the listings of not-fully- functional machines until I found one with a compatible pump: a Delonghi BAR20 which uses an Ulka EP5 pump. For each listing I found, I researched what kind of pump that particular machine used. I hit Kijiji.ca to look for broken espresso machine listings. Having robbed Peter to pay Paul, the first step was to find a pump for it. Despite its bad reputation, I was all agog over the volume programmability and so I set about to try to repair it. It is prone to several problems including flaky empty water reservoir sensor and hydraulic system leaks. Retailing for as much as $600 and available at Starbucks stores from about 2008 to 2010, it also has a reputation for being particularly unreliable as attested by the numerous bad reviews. All that branding resulted in a rather expensive, in fact seriously over-priced, but good looking machine. The Sirena espresso machine was built by Saeco for Starbucks. The same outfit has been singled out to style the next-gen train cars of the fifth largest all-rail network in the nation, the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system. This beast was designed by BMW’s design house, California-based DesignworksUSA. It has several features that make it attractive as far as espresso machines are concerned: Now I had the carcass of a leaking Starbucks Sirena machine missing its pump that I just couldn’t bring myself to toss out. Additional complete disassembly, thorough descaling and cleaning, thus completed its refurbishment. I tore it apart, harvested the pump and successfully retrofitted it into my sister’s Gran Gaggia espresso machine. I offered $15, since I only needed the pump, and they accepted my offer. I really only needed it for its internal pump which my research had shown to be a compatible replacement for the one that had failed in my sister’s Gran Gaggia espresso machine. I found it on Craigslist in Vancouver area advertised as leaking and “as is” for $20. I recently acquired a Starbucks Sirena espresso machine.
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