iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Al @alyb.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Another Kenwood Chef to sort. First one in these bright colours. It will get the full service. Gearbox, belt, feet, pcb repairs then it’s going for sale. Also has mincer attachment and o think a juicer. #Repair #KenwoodChef #Kenwood #Linlithgow

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

More repairs for this week. Can understand the seasonality of repairs with pressure washes leaking after winter frosts or hedge trimmer cable cuts in summer/ autumn but why the rush of big steam irons in Sept/Oct! #Repair

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

More repairs. 5x Steam irons. Why oh why can’t we get valve servicing kits for the tiny pumps inside? Seems crazy to buy a whole new pump and valve assy. Also been working on hifi, food mixer etc. #Repair #Linlithgow

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Subtle difference. One blocks air and stops a Dyson hairdryer working the other lets air in and lets it work normally. Who designs an appliance so your hand skin cells block the machine from working. Crap design.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Well that’s broken beyond repair. Sadly we see quite a few of these. Replacement motors too expensive or hard to find so the whole machine has to be scrapped. #Repair #Linlithgow

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Sorted the timing on this sewing machine. Took a few attempts. I suspect someone else had worked on it and let the gears slip. Back to more repairs this morning #Repair #Linlithgow

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

#ShowYourStripes day. www.reading.ac.uk/planet/event... Time to look at the bigger picture and see how the planet is warming in your location and in your lifetime.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

One of our Repairers is making great progress on this old singer sewing box lid. A new oak veneer top coat to add next week. Meanwhile we struggled to resolve the fault with this more modern machine. Overly complex electronics. #Repair #Linlithgow

Singer sewing box as it arrived damaged roll top case.

Work in progress for singer sewing box. Holes filled ready for new top veneer

More modern sewing machine not switching off.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Cozy blanket for Flymo motor. Covered in grass. No chance of motor staying cool and a bit of a fire hazard too. Deep down the motor brushes have totally worn out on this old model but we’ll get it working again. #Repair #Linlithgow

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Power connector on laptop is broken and needs replaced. So that means. Remove base cover, fan, hard drive, WiFi cables, cd player, keyboard, second cover. Only then do you reach the cable. Lots of screws of different sizes. Terrible design. Once in, hinge screws are loosening. #Repair

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Repair Shop will be open this morning during the local market. There’s also a Tool Sale being run by Linlithgow Shed. I’ll carry on working on this old Kenwood Chef. New components and gearbox overhaul. #Repair #Linlithgow

Kenwood Chef food mixer from 1970’s. Blown x2 capacitors.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Fixed at the Repair shop today by one of our repair volunteers. Lots of other repairs going on.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Snap, crackle, pop.. the sounds from a dirty or faulty potentiometer in a guitar amp. 1st thought. Can we clean it rather than buy new. Answer yes. But it needed full disassembly and not just a squirt of cleaner. #Repair #Linlithgow

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Currently exploring options to fix a singer sewing machine wooden case. Could patch or add new veneer layer on top. Food mixer might come in next week. Common fault of blown x2 caps. Likely to need gearbox overhaul, new electrical components and feet. #Repair #Linlithgow

Singer Sewing machine roll top box damaged by courier.

Kenwood KM200 smells when run. Failed capacitors.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

It’s essential that we look inside stuff we repair. We were told that the iron being used on this extension lead wasn’t working. No wonder. Missing copper connectors, tin foil on the fuse, broken plastic, cable not held tightly. Be safe folks. This is a fire and electric shock risk. #Repair

Photo of electrical extension lead with broken plastic and silver foil on fuse.

Photo of electrical extension lead with missing copper connections and no poor cable clamping

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

A visitor tonight. One of several that drop past at night. Shame that a developer wants to build houses on land that contains their set. Existing planning regs are rubbish at protecting these animals.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

What a mess. Bathroom company who did this couldn’t be bothered to remove or reduce the lead pipe and make a cleaner flow path for waste water. Oh but it’s ok because we can hide it with plasterboard.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

We better get this toy fixed or we may be in a spot of trouble. Punching hands, rockets, discs. So far a bit of worn plastic has been mended. Next for the rocket mechanism. #Repair

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Trying to find the fault with this pill popper. Removes pills from blister packs. Charger rated at 24v but giving out 34v. Tried bench PSU at 24v and nothing. More investigating tomorrow. #Repair

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Awaiting new solenoid for this coffee machine. Should be fairly easy to swap the part and test. #Repair #Linlithgow

Internal parts of coffee machine showing corrosion on solenoid. (Valve)

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Faulty Y2 capacitor on this turntable. Main platter post caked in thick grease and the motor needed a lot of persuasion to spin. Hopefully once new cap arrives it should be a quick turnaround #Repair

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

Cute Milo. We hope you enjoyed your time living with us. Sleep well x

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

A chair arrived needing new biscuits or dowels or something. There’s no way glue alone will fix this. A good effort by the owner but it’s time for some serious woodwork repairs to properly fix this one. #Repair

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Sugden A48 amp looking great and sounding good too. Not bad for something made in 1978. A missing strip at the top for dial labels but it’s fairly obvious what’s what. Next to test phono preamp section and complete repairs on the turntable. #Repair

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Working on this amazing old amplifier. Uk made. Company still operating and making very fancy audio amplifiers. This one harms back to 1978 approx. Completed a safe power on, cleaned pots and sent signal through from tape1 to spreader1 ports. More to test before we connect it up to try #Repair

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

Just repaired a machine that was failing to make a cup of coffee due to one tiny o-ring deep inside the machine. Average owner would have thrown it out. Excessive design tech crap.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Walk around the Loch this afternoon. Cold but warmed up in local coffee shop afterwards.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Near completion on repairing this coffee machine. Symptom was - 1st cup would work ok but subsequent ones would pour water into tray. Fault. A few worn o-rings. #Repair #AvoidedRecycling

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Seriously dangerous wiring on this heater dropped off for repair. Wrong parts inside the plug. Live arcing past the fuse, worn insulation, melted connectors inside the heater.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Linlithgow Repair Shop is now award winning! We were delighted to attend the West Lothian Chamber of Commerce Business Awards on Friday last week, where a team of staff and volunteers collected our award as Environmental Champions 2025.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

Battery added to this Kindle 3. Simple repair but Amazon not supporting online shop any more. Software update only worked by stepping through interim updates. #Repair Also setup dim bulb tester and await delivery of variac as we have old audio amplifier to repair.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

Kind donation of items to the Repair shop. Curved monitor and kindle e-book. Will be good to see if we can fix them. Also upgrading computer to Linux to learn how and provide support for those struggling with MSFT windaes. #Repair #Linlithgow

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

Kitchen Aid food mixer that’s been mixing gears too. New parts required, new grease and gasket. Messy but repairable. Nice to have spare parts available #Repair #LinlithgowRepairShop

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

@lornaslater.bsky.social - as discussed. We have a real and growing problem of algae in many locations across Scotland. See Bloomin’ Algae App. Linlithgow Loch is just one of many. Scotland needs a plan to protect waterways and lochs etc or we will end up with a crisis like parts of England.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

#InternationalRepairDay will be celebrated at the Linlithgow Repair Shop today as we are not open on a Saturday. MP’s, MSP’s, local councillors and anyone who lives in our area are welcome to drop in. We are volunteer run and open 3 times a week. Success rate in 2025 is over 82% repaired.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Sneaky wee capacitor was causing this tape deck not to emit any sound. Sourced a replacement and hey ho… working again. #Repair #Linlithgow

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Old tape recorder in for repair. Broken belt is first obvious fault. Will give it a clean, oil the important bits and test the electrics. #Repair #Linlithgow

Inside of a cassette tape recorder in for repair.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

Looking at another Dyson hairdryer with broken power cable. Such fun to disassemble to replace it -NOT! Another poor product not designed for repair. 2nd item was a steam iron. No parts available. #Repair #Linlithgow

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Little doll which was much loved by its owner for sentimental reasons needed a new suit and we found some scrap material. Added a little hair too as there was a bit of a receding hairline! #Repair #Linlithgow

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

Removed a few resistors to get this monitor working again. Donated to us to fix, we will use it in the repair shop or sell it. 32” curved screen. #Repair #Linlithgow

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 13/09/2025

Some work in progress at the Repair Shop. Toaster with bad electrical connection which I’m trying to repair. Capacitor inside a log splitter which another repairer is fixing and handle of a luggage trolley which needs a 3D printed part. #Repair

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Next up a Pioneer cassette player making a lot of noise. So far it looks like broken and worn belts. We will replace those and see how it runs. #Repair #Linlithgow

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

Hopefully be fixing this old Kenwood Chef food mixer tomorrow. New caps, resistor and triac as well as some new feet to keep the motor cool. That is after completing Dyson hairdryer, table top and Air Fryer. #Repair #Linlithgow

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Another clogged up Dyson hairdryer. Incredible how much dirt and grime these things collect despite the fancy filters. Wonder if they actually test these things at the design stage! #Repair #Linlithgow #RepairShop

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Repairs today: JBL PartyBox with water damage, Dyson hairdryer with common fault of overheating, Russell Hobbs kettle with damage to factory made plug, Kenwood Chef with burning smell from old electronics, cooking pot lid handle, Flymo lawnmower. #Repair #Linlithgow

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

Boom box in for repair. Quick look on YouTube and oh boy. Lots of videos of water damaged boards. This thing leaks and is not water or beer proof. Hopefully we can fix its fault. #Repair #Linlithgow

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

@kittysull1.bsky.social will be visiting the Repair Shop next week. We recently received, a food mixer, kettle, nailer, handbag, mirror and a radio so we will have plenty to demo what we do. Here’s a wee photo of one of our repair benches.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Another 20+ year old Dualit toaster. A delight to work on with simple screws, nuts, bolts and spares still available. Why can’t all toasters be like this. We will also be giving it a polish as it was a wedding present. #Repair #Linlithgow

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

Just an ordinary plug. Someone spotted it was hot to touch. That is a massive fire risk. The problem? Poor connection on the live pin where it holds the fuse. Glad I spotted it.

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Al @alyb.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

Nae bread at the repair shop to check this faulty toaster out so before we deep dive with screwdrivers and electrical test equipment let’s look in infrared. Middle card failed. #Repair #Linlithgow

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