We all scream for ice cream – so why are McDonald's machines always broken?
- Reference: 1693470733
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/08/31/ifixit_ice_cream_machine/
- Source link:
Leading on the worrying statistic that 10 percent of McDonald's ice cream machines are broken at any given moment, the [1]teardown terrors protest that it doesn't have to be this way.
In a sort of John- [2]Deere -for-frozen-milk situation, iFixit says commercial ice cream machines are often only really "broken" because a bunch of software locks say so.
[3]
In reality, what might be a simple fix is obfuscated behind "passwords and cryptic error messages," and control of these is what forms the bulk of the manufacturer's revenues through pricey callouts.
[4]
[5]
But bypassing such software locks is a no-no under the US's Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
So, in the name of sweaty punters who might visit the golden arches in the hope of a frozen treat but are turned away by an ashen-faced crew member, iFixit and IP law non-profit Public Knowledge are soft serving the US Copyright Office with a [6]petition [PDF] to "expand the repair exemption for consumer electronic devices to include commercial industrial equipment."
[7]
Yes, the broken McDonald's ice cream machine is only iFixit's clickbaity inroad – the activists envision a world where the owners of all commercial industrial machinery are allowed to fix their equipment themselves without the threat of being sued. How dare they be so reasonable.
[8]After years of fighting Right to Repair, Apple U-turns-ish in California
[9]Another redesign on the cards for iPhone as EU rules call for removable batteries
[10]Microsoft dabbles in self-repair with Surface devices now DIY-friendlier
[11]Minnesota governor OKs broad right-to-repair tech law
Managing to appropriate a Taylor-made ice cream machine for the purposes of the campaign, [12]iFixit said : "Getting this exemption request granted would let us do more with our machine: instead of just taking it apart, we could also dig into the software. We could reverse-engineer the error codes and figure out how to reset them.
Teardown
"But it still won't solve the problem – most McDonald's franchise owners aren't hackers and won't be able to figure out how to read and address the machine's error codes on their own."
So iFixit did what iFixit does best – and took the machine apart. What they found was "lots of easily replaceable parts" such as a "heat exchanger with copper piping, a motor and belt, and three printed circuit boards," noting that "there's nothing here that's beyond the pale for someone who knows their screwdrivers."
And we would never accuse iFixit of that. The company has a video detailing how the machine works and delves into its innards too, [13]if you're so inclined .
[14]Youtube Video
[15]
"Even if the copyright office agrees to grant the exemption request we filed today, we won't be able to share with you what we find in the brains of our own machine unless we change copyright law altogether," iFixit lamented.
"That's why we're also asking Congress to reintroduce the [16]Freedom to Repair Act , which would make repair tools legal, too, permanently exempting all repair activities from Section 1201 of the DMCA. Until we get that full exemption, ice cream machine repair will stay broken."
It added: "We're not just fighting for a smooth treat; we're fighting for the right to fix things, the liberty of ownership, and… well, yeah, also for that smooth treat."
And who can argue with that? ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/27/apple_iphone_14_pro_repairs/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/12/deere_software_revenues/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZPBkwgr1ElK92yHRnUZ1IQAAAIw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZPBkwgr1ElK92yHRnUZ1IQAAAIw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZPBkwgr1ElK92yHRnUZ1IQAAAIw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://regmedia.co.uk/2023/08/30/ifixiticecream.pdf
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZPBkwgr1ElK92yHRnUZ1IQAAAIw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/24/apple_california_right_repair/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/20/removable_battery_eu/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/15/microsoft_surface_spare_parts/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/25/minnesota_right_to_repair/
[12] https://www.ifixit.com/News/80215/whats-inside-that-mcdonalds-ice-cream-machine-broken-copyright-law
[13] https://youtu.be/2uCpY3tFTIA?si=8kS2i7V6lPCzERN8
[14] https://youtu.be/2uCpY3tFTIA?si=8kS2i7V6lPCzERN8
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZPBkwgr1ElK92yHRnUZ1IQAAAIw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6566/text
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Car manufacturers should be made to share all their component catalogues and diagnostic software with the car owners.
This is way beyond the John Deer example.
I recently had to pay £350 at the Nissan dealer for a steering drag link bar , purely because I didnt have access to their software to find out the part number and which models its used on .
With that information I could have got it elsewhere for 10% of that price.
The diagnostic software is a whole other ransom situation , only partially ( 50%? ) alleviated by the ODBC2 diag standardisation rules.
Wait, their milkshake maker works like an HP printer ?
So, this is McD corp selling hardware to franchises that is specifically locked down to not work properly all the time ?
What business school told them that was a good idea ?
Is that what MBAs are learning these days ?
No wonder the economy is going to shit.
Re: Wait, their milkshake maker works like an HP printer ?
I think there is more to this than just what was in the ifixit vid. It is a good vid, don't get me wrong!
It appears that to save on cleaning time and effort the machines heat cycle the 'product mix' to kill off any bugs. What I have read is that if there is too much mix in the machine it doesn't heat up fast enough or hot enough and trips the alarm. The alarm codes being utterly useless, as ifixit have shown, is then the next problem. And as someone says in the comments of the vid the machines get gummed up with baked on mix which causes more failures.
The machine supplier makes an f-ing fortune from the callouts and McD's seem quite happy with this.
It used to be the case that at the end of the day the machines would be drained, stripped and deep cleaned with hot water and disinfectant. McD's don't want to pay staff to do this or waste the mix that would go down the drain.
To quote Scotty: the more complex the plumbing the easier it is to stop up the drain.
Re: Wait, their milkshake maker works like an HP printer ?
watching the vid, one of the common "breakdown" faults is something overheating and tripping out.
But with obscure fault codes which remove agency from the user, the operator wouldn't know that solution was something like "Stirrer motor overheated, power down for 1 hour, then reset. If problem remains call maintenance" (and consider checking you're not blocking the vents) or "power supply overload. Do not use machine. Call maintenance"
Re: Wait, their milkshake maker works like an HP printer ?
> What business school told them that was a good idea ?
The one that told them they'll make more $$$ servicing the machine than selling it.
> No wonder the economy is going to shit.
Yepper doodle.
Yeah from memory of the original deep dive into the investigation of it, the same machine is used at other companies (Wendy's I think) and they don't have that problem. The suggest was that McDonalds don't clean or service their machines as rigorously as others might...
Just found the original.. Basically, McDonalds have locked the franchise owners into a single contract for repairs that are crippling high. They even stamped down on a company that was selling a tool (Kytch) to franchise owners to troubleshoot and fix the machines on their own. The whole story is pretty dark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrDEtSlqJC4
It is sad that error codes are now 'copyright'. I'm old enough to remember the IBM PC manuals that were several inches thick and contained every single error number, beep code and light flash sequence the computer could make.
The old Spectrum 48K manuals were amazing too, including all sorts of really cool information about the hardware and the Z80 assembly opcodes.
No sh!t Sherlock
I briefly worked for McD as an assistant manager WAY back in the dark ages (late 80's) and the Thick Shake machines (very similar in function to ice cream machines) broke down constantly even then. The problems are down to the requirements for handling Milk based products and the fact that Milk is a bacterial growth TURBOCHARGER! Back then every single machine had to be stripped and sterilised every night and that process involves chemicals that damage parts of the machine like seals and o-rings, in fact anything that isn't made of medical grade stainless steel. Once sterilised the machine was left like that overnight and then in the morning was rinsed through with water to get rid of the sterilising chemicals after reassembly. So, you have a complex machine with lots of seals that was stripped every night and reassembled every morning by McD's staff and as a consequence the machines were often broken? How reliable do you think your car engine would be if it was regularly stripped and reassembled by junior apprentices? Yes, the companies that make those machines have tried to make them as moron-proof as possible and I believe they may only need to be sterilised once per week these days. The fact that the manufacturers are also open to being sued by customers and/or McDs (and most other sellers of Dairy fast-foods) just adds to their hyper-caution.
Re: No sh!t Sherlock
If you build an industrial level machine that can be stripped down and cleaned but you don't provide clear instructions on how to do so, or use seals that need replacing but don't say when or make the replacements available then you're not making a machine for use but a revenue stream to exploit.
Limiting choice is anticompetitive
We have seen this kind of behaviour so often:
- Apple iPhone repairs (I had a screen repaired by a non-Apple outfit and Apple then refused to do a battery warranty swap)
- HP printer ink
- Electric car batteries
- Cisco hardware, mandating Cisco SFPs (crazy prices!)
I am sure others could add to this list almost endlessly.
There is NO reason governments should allow this. Governments should set the rules. Those that permit this behaviour are protecting big business profits rather than representing the people.