What started as a CAN Bus Properties and Troubleshooting tutorial for our customers became a viral YouTube sensation in just 11 months. With 100,000+ views and 2,400 likes, Eric Carmen’s CAN Bus Properties and Troubleshooting video tutorial has received incredibly positive feedback and is a tool that has been utilized by customers and engineers from around the world.
To celebrate the tutorial’s success, we sat down with the Enovation Controls Technical Services Supervisor Eric Carmen to get his reaction to the video’s growing popularity and learn a little more about CAN Bus troubleshooting.
Why did you create this video?
Eric: We created this tutorial to help our customers solve the most common problems they may encounter when dealing with a communication failure on a CAN bus. Our products are designed to communicate with engine ECU’s and other devices over a CAN bus, so having a good understanding of how the network is supposed to be configured and how to troubleshoot any problems is vital to our customers continued success. This video will equip them with the knowledge and confidence they need to troubleshoot CAN bus problems on the spot.
Why do you think this video is so popular?
Eric: The video has been popular with our direct customers based on feedback we have received because it helps explain a topic they are not familiar with and solves the problem of how to train their technicians. Our marine OEMs can forward the video to the technicians at their dealerships as part of their training program, there are usually six or more devices on the CAN network in their applications and being able to diagnose problems quickly is essential. Now that does not explain 100,000+ views. I think since this topic has a much broader audience that extends into the automotive market, others have benefitted as well.
How do our products help customers work with CAN devices?
Eric: Our market is more in the industrial and off-highway segment for which we provide a complete range of CAN-based products: from I/O devices that convert real world analog signals into CAN data, controllers that actuate hydraulic systems from CAN messages or control engines, to the displays that provide a beautiful user experience operating the equipment.
If someone doesn’t have 20 minutes to watch the whole thing, what’s the single best tip you can give them?
Eric: Granted, the video is necessarily long to cover the topic in depth; if a customer does not have the time to view the video, I recommend they go straight to the troubleshooting article that accompanies the video on our support site. As another option, the video has two parts: the first half explains the properties of a CAN bus and the second half walks you through a troubleshooting procedure. You can select just one of the topics you are interested in and cut your viewing time in half.
What are you going to do with all this newfound YouTube fame?
Eric: This video was intended to lay the foundation for other CAN related videos to follow. Next on our list is to talk about the SAE J1939 protocol which defines the data that is transported over a CAN network. This is the protocol that all our products use when communicating over CAN is especially important for our PowerVision Configuration Studio® developer community to understand. Having all this YouTube “fame” encourages us to continue providing valuable content for our customers.
For more information on CAN Bus Troubleshooting or help with related topics, visit the Enovation Controls Help Center or check out our YouTube channel.
