ULKA

ULKA vibration pumps are made just outside Milan Italy by the Cime group. Vibration pumps are used in many appliances including coffee machines.

Coffee machines use vibration pumps for tank-filled machines and rotary vane pumps for plumbed machines.

UKLA pumps are found on the best home and commercial machines in the world and have become a standard in the world of vibration pumps. The most common ULKA pumps are Vibration Pump EX5 230V and Vibration Pump EP5 230V  and are found in Rancilio, Delonghi, Gaggia, Ascaso, Lelit, Francis, Bezzera and many other household espresso machines.

Inside a metal coil is a piston. That piston also contains a magnet attached to a string. An electrical charge goes through the coil, which makes the magnet propel the piston quickly back and forth. When this happens, the pressure pulsates water through the espresso machine at approximately 60 pulses a second.

ULKA vibration pumps are smaller than rotary pumps and are cheaper and easier to replace.

They have a few limitations:

They are louder than rotary pumps, ( a vibration pump silence Vibration Pump pulsor can be retrofitted)  and they cannot be plumbed to the water mains, so are tank-fed. Vibration pumps cannot control the pressure but you can retrofit an OPV Vibration Pump OPV Kit