Who are we and why do we want to blog about our travels in an Autosleeper Broadway EB called 'Bryony'?
We are Steve and Maggie and Bryony is our first ever motorhome.
We had only ever ‘visited’ the motorhome of a relative a few times, back when our
children were very young and so we are real motorhome newbies!
For the last three years, our much-loved caravan Florence, was regularly towed across southern parts of the UK by Zebedee our Skoda Yeti. However, we began to find ourselves wanting to move on from an area after only a few days. Buying E bikes meant we couldn’t get them easily on the car roof and so it took extra time to manoeuvre them into Florrie. Packing and hitching her up to move to a new location took a lot of time and we gradually realised our needs were changing. Worry not though, Florrie went to a good home where she is once again much loved.
Why do we want to write a blog about our forthcoming adventures
in Bryony?
There are already many fabulous blogs out there about
motorhome life so why write another one? Very true, many fantastic
adventures by exciting people who have given up their jobs, retired early and sold
their houses in order to travel permanently across UK and Europe in their
motorhomes. Brilliant and truly inspirational blogs where we have learned
heaps. But, we just want to motorhome part of our time and we like time at home,
catching up with our neighbours and friends, touching base with the kids and
regularly pursuing our other passions and hobbies (as well as checking in daily
with the wildlife that shares our woodland garden with us). We’ve struggled to find blogs written by
part-time motorhomers and so we’ve started our own, focusing on what life is
like touring in an Autosleeper Broadway EB, as complete novices. We’ll
share what we learn (and endure) - tips, destination details, touring routes
and insights into our adventures with Bryony. To start with, we’ll
just concentrate on touring the UK to build up our skills and confidence. But
don’t worry, the moment we feel ready, we will be aiming to head south down
through France, Spain, Italy and further afield.
We welcome contributions from everyone. Tips, advice and any
‘postcards’ sent from your tours and destinations, will help us newbies learn
the ropes more quickly. Finally, we want our blog to be a ‘journal’ for our
future older selves. A future reminder, that we seized the moment, sought out
adventures and lived our lives to the full, making lots of new friends on the
way. Please subscribe and become part of our ‘journal’. Take care and have lots of fun motorhoming.
Steve and Maggie
PS. As you will soon gather, one of us doesn't mind posing for photographs and one of us hates having her photo taken!
PS2: If you want to find out more about us then visit this blog post at https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2020/11/who-are-main-characters-in-our-blog.html
Navigating our blog:
Here are the links to the various pages and country travel trips we have done. Click on the link and it takes you to the page or the first page of our travel trip logs - all in a new browser window.
Useful pages:
Pros and cons of owning a motorhome https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2021/01/what-are-pros-and-cons-of-owning.html
Essential things we needed to get https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2020/11/what-were-essential-things-we-needed-to.html
Tips on buying your first motorhome https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2020/11/buying-your-first-motorhome-so-exciting.html
Tips for handover day https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2020/11/ready-to-pick-up-your-new-motorhome.html
Why you should take your motorhome to a weigh station asap https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2020/11/preparing-bryony-for-forthcoming-lock.html
How to avoid getting stuck in the mud https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2020/11/how-to-avoid-getting-your-motorhome.html
Do we need extra motorhome security looks? https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2020/12/should-we-get-extra-locks-on-our.html
Looking after your leisure batteries https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2021/02/guidance-for-those-new-to-motorhomes.html
Planning your first UK roadtrip https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2021/01/how-do-you-go-about-planning-road-trip.html
Preparing for winter storage https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2021/03/preparing-your-motorhome-ready-for.html
Uplating your motorhome https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2021/06/up-plating-motorhome.html
Keeping a motorhome toolkit https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2020/11/what-do-you-keep-in-your-motorhome-tool.html
Is it worth getting ebikes for your motorhome touring? https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2020/11/is-it-worth-investing-in-e-bikes-if-you.html
Astronomy and motorhomes https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-joys-of-astronomy-is-it-hobby-we.html
Improving solar panel efficiency https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2023/08/improving-solar-panel-efficiency-on.html
Touring the UK
These links will take you to the first page of the trip log - subsequent pages will give daily details
https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2020/10/welcome-to-our-blog.html
Touring south devon and dorset coast https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-south-coast-chronicles-day-one.html
Getting away to south and west Cornwall https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-great-cornish-getaway-day-1-down-to.html
Touring Norfolk https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2021/06/touring-norfolk-in-motorhome.html
Visitng the Fowey area in South Cornwall https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2021/08/a-quick-escape-for-few-days-in-fowey.html
Visiting North Devon and Exmoor https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2021/09/escaping-to-north-devon-and-exmoor.html
Touring Wales in a motorhome https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-september-21-wales-grand-tour-in.html
Touring ancient Wessex https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-wessex-grand-tour_29.html
Touring the St Ives area of Cornwall https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2022/01/escaping-to-st-ives.html
Touring West and East Sussex https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2022/06/touring-west-and-east-sussex-mini.html
Touring the Roseland peninsula in Cornwall https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-cornwall-trip-to-roseland-peninsula.html
Visiting Telford and Ironbridge https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2023/11/a-quick-trip-to-ironbridge-near-telford.html
A quick tour of the Peak District https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2023/11/touring-peak-district-in-motorhome.html
Overseas trips
These links will take you to the first page of the trip log - subsequent pages will give daily details
France
Our first grand tour of France https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-grand-tour-of-france-august.html
Spain
Our first tour of south east Spain https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2023/06/our-grand-tour-of-southern-spain.html
Touring south west Spain https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-grand-tour-of-southern-spain.html





Happy for you...Great idea with covid goin on.We have been wanting to do the same..Some advice from a friend Do not go to far in a day, Enjoy the trip as well as the the destination.
ReplyDeletePa Pa Pat - you are our first ever commentator on our new blog - HELLO! And that is great advice actually. We were just discussing this morning how we need to learn how to plan our trips so that we do stop off's on the way between destinations. It is definitely a different way of doing things to caravan touring. Thanks for the tip. Stay in touch. Send us a 'postcard' when you are next touring!
ReplyDeleteHi Steve,
ReplyDeleteHave enjoyed reading your blog and the battery issues. We have a Broadway too but the EK version (end kitchen for the uninitiated) purchased in October last year so have so far managed 1 night away and a few day trips! Currently a very expensive ornament sat on our drive but I am sure it will improve this year. Looking forward to getting out and about this year when Boris let's us. We have named ours Boris after lots of deliberation but thought it was quite apt really.
I am looking at putting a second leisure battery in ours to overcome the Sargent discharge issues I hope so will let you know how I get on with that.
Happy travels
Peter & Carol
Peter, Carol - hello - thanks for your comment. How have you managed your batteries over lock down? You will gather ours have been a disaster due to my mismanagement and naivety! I am looking to probably add a second solar panel and do an EC700 by-pass although I am very interested in your solution. Will you by-pass the EC700 unit when you do it?
ReplyDeleteI have to say not being electrically minded - it is all rather baffling - my learning curve, as you will have gathered, has been astronomically vertical!
Today I have been trying to work out what battery replacement to put in - whether to replace with a similar 90Ah battery, but of a different make OR to go for a higher Ah battery like a 110Ah. Given I need to resolve the discharge issue as well - its getting confusing. In addition I have payload concerns as well as we added a tow bar and two heavy electric bikes - so the weight on the rear axle is causing me concern - ho hum!
Steve, new to this blogging lark, published that before reading through it! 😄, all new experiences. My plan on the batteries is to discuss with the dealership as have a couple of electrical issues anyway and do not want any warranty issues as have spent a lot of money on our toy! I will get them to fit two new batteries but ideally with me purchasing them to save on the cost if they will agree to it. I too have thought about putting a larger solar panel up or a second one but am also confused as to whether I would need it, I also don't want to put anymore holes in the roof unless we really have to. My view was if I added more storage and charged him at home then the worst case I would have twice the time off hook-up when we are out and about and after this year we would know so much more before we ventured further afield, as Europe is so appealing.
DeleteHope that makes sense with my previous comment.
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteI am lucky enough to have mine at home so have been keeping a close eye on the charge levels but have read as you have about the ec700 bypass to stop the drain. The issue I see with doing this is the warranty hence looking for an alternative method.
One option I did look at was to add a portable solar panel to trickle charge the vehicle battery then the main panel can deal with the leisure battery. Unfortunately the panel I bought was faulty so didn't actually get round to proving it would help or not.
I am also wondering if my current leisure battery is any good where it has been sat on the Marquis forecourt for a year prior to us purchasing the van. Hence looking at replacing the existing with a 110ah and adding a second one to resolve the problem in the short term. We also want to do sort wild camping and I am currently dubious as to whether the battery will last out or not.
Hi Pete - I am so with you on this one - annoyed slightly at autosleepers as well for knowing about these issues and not doing anything about it; ditto with payload issue as well but here we go.
ReplyDeleteI am very fearful of doing something that voids the warranty. I am about to phone alpha batteries and tanya batteries and see what they suggest. I like the idea of having two batteries onboard for off grid. I am very naive on these matters but I wonder if you could get away with just the one panel but have two batteries and then just switch them over periodically when out and about doing off grid stuff. then on longer storage periods - keep one at home being trickle charged and periodically swap over - we cant get to an EHU at our storage site and so would need to bring the van home and parking along our street is difficult so the easiest thing for us is to periodically visit the van and rotate batteries.
we already have a payload issue I think because we added a tow bar with its steel fixings and then 70kgs of electric bikes and bike rack. So I reckon we are 100kgs into the payload of 469kg before we add anything else - if that payload was ever accurate in the first place!! Aye aye aye - this moho malarkey is hard work :)
Steve,
ReplyDeleteYes I am annoyed with Autpsleeper too but they will not admit to there being a problem as is very clear on the AS forum. I think on the payload side of things you should be fine but they do hang out the rear a bit. I have put a bike rack on mine but not tried it as yet and we currently don't have electric bikes as have to convince the wife. What have you gone for?
With the batteries you have to get 2 new batteries as the have to be the same age, make and output. They need to be wired in parallel so effectively you are just doubling the capacity so effectively if you have 2 x 110Ah then you would have 220Ah capacity but you can only use 50% of that due to the battery type but you still have twice as much available.
I don't think you could do what you are saying regarding swapping them out during storage but best to ask Alpha or Tanya. One other thought I had was rather than fitting another solar panel on the roof you could wire up a portable one just for while it's in storage. I would have to check with AS to see if this is possible or not.
We are hoping to get out next month so we can start to experiment more and get into this properly. We have spent the last 4 years trying to decide between a caravan and an MH but are sure we made the correct decision. We purchased ours end of September and got it mid October so had no time to get out really!
Hope that helps.
Thats really helpful - thanks. I dont think the by-pass is an option whilst there are warranties to consider. And we are reluctant to add another battery or solar panel because of the weight already. We have just got a Yuasa L36 EFB battery replacement today. I think we will go for isolating the vehicle battery and then decide on how to manage the habitation battery - we could just take it out and bring it home over winter; we could leave it in but bring the moho home for the day once every ten days or so and hook up to the EHU. I think the panel will do off grid for a night or two during summer in southern UK - I've spent all afternoon trying to work out our appliances wattage and load on the battery to work out how many hours we would have on the battery before it needed recharging - so many factors to take into account.
ReplyDeleteAs for the bikes - see our blog post on ebikes - we talked about it there. e have two trek bikes a powerfly 4 and a hybrid - combined they are weighty - something like 45kgs; then there is the bike rack - a thule one which weighs in at around 19kg - so a combined weight on the tow ball of 65kgs which is fine. However the tow ball is 4kgs and the brackets and reinforcement steel plates to the chassis another 20kg probably. Its the rear axle payload I worry about!!!!! We will go to the local weigh station again and check it all one more time out of paranoia.
Thanks for helping me with this - really appreciate it
by the way we also had a caravan - that was so easy to understand! having taken out the vehicle battery and keeping it at home; and bringing the leisure battery home every ten days to charge - we have decided to get out asap after lock down sometime to a site just up the road from our storage site - to test everything out - and make sure it all works - we keep getting iTruma error codes as it is - and then if that is all ok - we will make a break for somewhere local for a few days.
ReplyDeleteI do agree the by-pass is not an option at this time but guess it will have to be done at some point in the future.
ReplyDeleteI will be interested to hear how you get on with the new battery, mine is a Hankook DC27 90Ah but I do wonder if it is knackered. My MH is a 2019 model that was sat on their forecourt for a year so question the battery health! Is yours similar?
Mine is back on charge again today as both batteries were down to 12.3V
Don't forget to put the tracker into service mode on the AS app if you do remove the battery. Probably teaching grandma how to suck eggs! 😂.
Will check up on the bikes if I can ever get Carol back on one!
Good luck!
Hi Steve, don't know what happened to my reply but I'm guessing it got lost in the ether!
ReplyDeleteWith regards to the bypass I agree with you, it will have to be left until outside of warranty too much at stake to jeopardise that!
You will have to let me know how you get on with the replacement battery as it has crossed my mind that the one that came with the MH could be knackered. Ours is a Hankook DC27 90Ah, is yours the same? Our MH is a 2019 model ex display so has been sat for a year on their forecourt. Mine went back on charge again yesterday as battery levels were down to 12.2v, I will unplug again today and see how it goes but it does seem to last about a week to 10 days is all with nothing running!
If you are going to take the battery out you will need to put the AS monitor into service mode and lose the tracking ability. Maybe teaching grandma how to suck eggs but just in case you were not aware.
There is a bit on the AS forum regarding battery drain which states that the Sargent control uses nearly all the solar input so seriously not helping the cause.
Thanks for the info on the electric bikes I will have a look. My first big hurdle mind you is to get my wife back on a bike.
We are planning to get out for a few days in early April with some seasoned MH owners wild camping and we will see how we get on with it all off grid. It might actually put my worries to bed but on the other hand it could well just add to them! 😂😂
Thanks for your input and happy MH'ing!!
Hi Pete - ours was a hankook DMC27 as well - 90Ah; our Broadway EB was a 2019 version which we bought last September and like you it had been sitting on the forecourt. We got it pre-registered. I'm doubtful that the battery was fully new or properly recharged given how they used to connect and disconnect the EHU on the forecourt. No wonder we had problems with the truma panel. The correct shut down procedure was never followed. Like you our battery lasts 10 days. remember the tracker will be draining it even with the EC700 switched off and there is barely sufficient solar panel input to make up for those losses. I put the moho into service mode every time the battery comes out. Irritatingly it only allows you two days so if you do longer you have to keep going back in and updating it. I spent ages reading the forum about the sargent panel and how to bypass it. i understand how to do it and what is needed, but those warranties - keeps worrying me. let me know how you get on off grid will you, if that isnt too inconvenient - I'd be very interested to see how you go about it. Put the boss on an electric bike - she will love it - promise!
ReplyDeleteStay in touch - let us know how it goes in April.
Steve,
DeleteI will certainly let you know how we get on off grid! Hopefully we won't run out of juice but if we do then we will be reliant on our friends to get us out of the mire!
I think we will just have to wait to bypass the Sargent until the warranty has expired unless they admit there is an issue.
Very interesting that our vans are very similar and have we assume been exposed to the same abuse at the dealership.
Please let me know how you get on with the new battery as if this resolves the issues then I will do as I suggested and replace the existing one with two new ones and then long term do the bypass as well.
We have some friends with electric bikes so will ask them if she can have a go as long as it is small enough as she is slightly vertically challenged!
Hope you get away soon.
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteCurious to know if the new battery has made any difference or not to the time before having to charge up?
Many thanks
Peter
hello Peter - how are you doing?
ReplyDeleteWe haven't put the new battery in yet. we have been bringing the old one home weekly and charging it up before putting it back in the moho. It seems to last around 10 days before dropping down to 12.1v We charged up the vehicle battery and that worked fine - its started Bryony and we bought her home where we hooked her up to the EHU for several hours before returning her to storage. We then isolated the vehicle battery. We have a new leisure battery and that will go in the van once we start touring - we are not very trusting of the old one if we have to go off grid for a few days. In the meantime we are investigating how to do the EC 700 by-pass but haven't yet reached a decision on whether to go ahead with this yet. Bryony will come home again sometime in the next few days where we will hook her up again and this time instead of a spring clean (now done) we will flush through her water and waste tank systems and make sure they are already for the great get away in mid april or May.
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteNot sure if you got my previous message.
I was hoping that you had tried your new battery as I am questioning ours as it does not seem to hold its charge very well at all. I have had it on EHU for 5 days and got both batteries up to 13.6V now, they have now been off charge for under a week and both are now ar 12.6v so do seem a bit better with the warmer weather.
I am going to get our water system up and running this weekend ready for our first trip out on Tuesday, only a day trip mind you.
I have mine going in for various bits of warranty work on the 12th April and might mention the battery issue then and see what response I get.
Happy travels
Peter and Carol
Hi Pete – I did reply via the blog but I think it doesn’t get through to you at times. We didn’t put in the new battery – we have bought a Yuasa one. It came recommended by many people on various forums. We’ve kept it in the garage and will place it in Bryony next week.
ReplyDeleteAs for the old battery – it lasts a week – just. Every week, I have pottered off, extracted it and bought it home to charge. I get it up to around 13.8v and then reinsert it. In just under eight days it drops to 12.2v. Interestingly, the speed at which it drops seems to be getting faster – I had to go back in only six days last week.
Like you we are getting the water system up and running next week. We will bring her home and hook her up to the house electric supply. We will sort the water system, reboot the heating system and then try and solve the ongoing mitigated disaster that is our wet locker!
I would be very interested to hear what your dealers say about the battery issue. I am not feeling sufficiently confident to do the EC700 ‘by-pass’ that everyone talks about. So, my thinking is to add an extra solar panel up top so that both panels are charging the leisure battery during the winter. Will this over come the drain issue I wonder? Will it also increase our ability to survive longer off grid? I am also wondering whether to keep two leisure batteries on board and have the two solar panels charge them at different times – so could some form of battery management switch be incorporated as well so that I can switch the solar charge from one battery to another as and when.
Let me know how you get on and what your thinking is afterwards – I am aiming to get this sorted over the summer if possible.
Cheers
Steve and Maggie
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteHave now had a chat with the dealership and they have said that the battery fitted is likely to be a C rated one so ne good really if you are wanting to go off grid.
Spoke to the manager but not sure how knowledge he is and his comment was to swap it out and put in an A rated AGM battery and if we wanted to go off grid a lot then double up on batteries, I asked about more solar and he said there is no point as they are regulated by the EC700 but I don't understand this comment as I would have thought that if the battery is depleted then you could put more in and you would only get 800W max from 10 hours sunlight.
They did say though that you should switch off the EC700 during the winter and this will then give you much longer before charges. So will have to try this in the winter.
We are taking Boris away for a couple of nights next week and will be going off grid to see how we get on, have EHU on site just in case though, hopefully Boris will survive without it!
Enjoy your travels
Peter and Carol
Hi Peter. have replied here and also via email.
ReplyDeleteInteresting comments from the manager. We have installed he Yuasa battery and will let you know how we get on with it when we go away.
From what I've read, everyone tells me that if you get a b rated battery, that will give you a few nights off grid. They also tell me bypassing the ec700 and installing an extra solar panel and a votronic mppt controller makes a huge difference....in charging speed and how much solar energy gets converted. I think personally making the system more efficient so the battery recharges more quickly is where we will look rather than adding another 24kg battery
Have a good time in Boris...let.me.know how it goes. I'll let u know how we get on as well
Take care safe travels
Steve and Maggie
Steve,
ReplyDeleteWe managed 2 nights off grid without any major issues. The leisure battery did drop to 11.9v on the second morning but was soon back up as we had sunny days which obviously helped.
One thing I did notice though was that the smart controller kept charging the vehicle battery when the leisure one required it so took it off smart and this I think helped a bit.
I am going to stick with the current battery for now and see how we get on and then change it to an AGM later in the year.
Happy travels
Peter & Carol
Thanks Pete
ReplyDeleteThat's good to hear. Very useful tips, thank you. Out of interest, do you have an under slung gas tank on yours? We seem to have gone through a lot of gas in only eight days and I am trying to work out how.....
Steve
Yes we do have the LPG tank, I filled it up when we got him but obviously haven't used it much as have only been away for 3 nights and a few day trips.
ReplyDeleteIt was showing 3 bars so filled it up on the way home but it only took £5.69 so was still about half full! It is quite a small tank I think as only took £10 when I filled it up first time.
Hope that helps
Peter
Ours was three bars and took £7.50 which means it was about half full as well. Very inaccurate gauge. Our new battery is holding up very well. Four days gone by and it hasn't shifted off 12.8v yet whereas the old one would have been down to 12.4 by now.
ReplyDeleteWe have gone ahead with up playing Bryony. We cleared her out and stuck her on weigh ridge and discovered we were close to exceeding rear axle weight. I will post about it all next week.
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteHope you are well and enjoying the open road? Just a quick question on the battery front. How are you getting on with the Yuasa L36, I have now taken the EC700 off smart charging as it seems to be the only way to keep the Leisure battery up at a reasonable charge. The vehicle battery is stable at 12.6v so no issue there.
I have looked further into batteries and seen that AGM's aren't the way forward hence the question regarding yours. I am also leaning towards just a single battery as the current one even though it is poor does seem to cope with our needs.
Look forward to your reply.
Peter & Carol
Hi Peter - sorry about late reply. we are on the road touring Norfolk. The battery seems to be working fine. we haven't gone off grid yet but it holds its charge very well. the solar panel seems to be charging it well as well. We are still using smart charging.
ReplyDeleteHi Steve, sat at South Lytchett Manor in Poole at present 5 days away its a very nice site but quite pricey! Ended up putting in the same battery as you but have not been off grid as yet to try it properly but the charge is definitely higher when it's sat on the drive.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a telly on board and if so have you tried plugging into an external aerial socket? We have a TV socket on site so tried going from their connection to the external socket on the van thinking that would work but it was useless! Have had to run the cable from the external supply through a window directly to the TV to get any decent reception! How was Norfolk?
Hi Pete. we have a TV but haven't used an external socket. TV aerial reception is patchy to say the least and was totally useless on our very last site but with fairness we were next to trees.
ReplyDeleteHi Steve,
ReplyDeleteHave done a bit of research on the TV connection and found out that you need to plug into the F type socket (sky socket) I have bought an F type to coax fly lead and will try it next time we have the opportunity so will let you know how I get on.