Damp in bench / underbed locker

Been to the AS service centre this morning to get our bike rack upgraded, while there I asked if they’d check out our Broadway for any signs of damp, all seemed good till the technician there (Tim I think his name was) found an area in the nearside bench underbed locker reading 45% & recommended further investigation while we still have some warranty remaining.

Upon checking the motorhome externally he noticed the roof seal had been replaced & he said he could tell by just looking at it that it had been done by themselves at Auto-Sleepers, upon further investigation their system showed that they are indeed familiar with our motorhome & it had recently undergone some pretty serious work by the service centre to remedy a leaking roof, turns out the entire roof was removed & replaced, along with the rear panel being removed & refitted to enable the roof replacement… 

I’m glad it’s been done but not really the kind of thing you want to hear having just spent £60,000 on a vehicle, can’t say I’m surprised because I’ve had my suspicions with this motorhome & it’s past history since bringing it home, just little things you keep coming across, when buying the dealer had two Broadway EB models to choose from & I like to think I have a pretty good eye for things & we bought what we thought was the better of the two, just goes to show…

Anyway getting back to the 45% reading the technician said it could either be still drying out after the remedy work or it could be water entering the vehicle via the dropout vent in the locker, either way it needs looking into, so another issue to bring to my dealers attention… 

Just wondered what your guys thoughts are & how you’d be feeling about such a revelation if you were in my shoes?

This is where it was found on mine on first hab service after I'd had it a year.  The sealing gasket around the fresh water filler installed frequently failed.  The water filler point was over sealed then SMC put a dehumidifier in for a few days.  They didn't extract much damp and were happy that there was no structural damage.  It gradually dried out (despite exposure to lots of heavy rain) and after the recent hot weather we had in Europe the points recorded as 40 & 50 in November are now 14%.

I did have an intrusive moisture meter but for frequent checks bought this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Moisture-Detector-Moisturer-Firewood-Concrete/dp/B09XQZH5NH/ref=sr_1_5?crid=20PQA4CG0MYOW&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.P-Q8xHfumm_Jl0wDYcLMvPQ1zGinmvNBZ4VFIcryDyrD8N69s4HAnMQpQ1qXohiMUsYnIQClb4K-lBpgOf196DAUWUpzEslN7UpB-NCNXkZv71WP5aTtr4T5b4GByktZRpL9WMswwK8F3fCTLQPabz8qE2ipgLeQ_0NHRRn8yfbaQwSs-ZOCDym7SqgwnV9YdoMma0oVqQOUehV-psB9r_H_xG2NkRVafdGXWKTjgbOqidnLX-dbxlD_nZSWaTh7FJXWGMsNQtLsRwI3qeLaJp3F8XMBLQZ4tmjcKm_XNzc.Qrcf2lngD5ktyZpeNgH9khY4RJHmtFu2ghpPgwo7ELE&dib_tag=se&keywords=Pinless%2BMoisture%2BMeter%2BDamp%2BDetector%2BWood%2BMoisturer%2BMeter%2Bfor%2BWalls%2BFirewood%2BMasonry%2BConcrete%2B(Upgraded)&qid=1721750312&sprefix=pinless%2Bmoisture%2Bmeter%2Bdamp%2Bdetector%2Bwood%2Bmoisturer%2Bmeter%2Bfor%2Bwalls%2Bfirewood%2Bmasonry%2Bconcrete%2Bupgraded%2B%2Caps%2C75&sr=8-5&th=1

Hi Bargee… 

It appears the dealer was well aware as they sold the vehicle from new, it turns out the original owner of the Broadway had issues with the roof leaking & the dealer allegedly made several attempts to repair the roof or make it watertight before the decision was made to send it back to Auto-Sleepers for the extensive work of fitting a completely new roof, so there is a documented history of the issue, clearly after the roof was replaced the original owner had unsurprisingly had enough & asked the dealer to sell it on their behalf, like you say I’m pretty annoyed this work had not been disclosed either, it feels like the equivalent of finding out the nice shiny new car you’ve bought is actually a write off that’s been repaired & put back on the road… 

Auto-Sleeper assured me it’s all been done within their factory & done properly so should not pose any problem going forward, now I’m aware of it I can actually see a slight colour difference in that the roof is slightly whiter than the rest of the van, would be a lot happier if I knew the roof came with some kind of water ingress warranty? If I’d paid Auto-Sleepers myself outside of warranty I would expect some kind of written water ingress warranty bearing in mind the level of work that was carried out to remedy the problem, replacing an entire roof must be a mammoth task, although I appreciate they must know what they are doing… following up to this it’s concerning as good as the dealer has been that they only gave us a measly 3 month warranty, although I will say unlike many dealers this is with them & not some third party company who don’t want to honour any claims like we had when buying from Marquis, their warranty turned out to be almost worthless, whereas this dealer hasn't quibbled about anything we’ve asked of them… I am somewhat annoyed they didn’t disclose the fact it had had the roof replaced, of course if they had I probably wouldn’t have gone ahead with the purchase so I can understand.

I do wonder if the owner of our Broadway EB is or was a member of the forum? The reg is GN19 AJU & came from the Kent area. Ive not really had time so far but might have a trawl through the forum for any posts about Broadway leaking roofs incase that possibly sheds any light.

Hi Peter thanks for the tip about the water inlet, the damp meter was fine in that area, as I was in the van with the technician as he went around it, but it triggered at the opposite end beneath the gas outlet & gas drop out valves in the area immediately behind the passenger seat, AS said it might just be a case of fitting a baffle Where the drop out valves are located to stop road water being sprayed up by the wheels, our last Broadway EL had a similar issue where the step would fill up with water entering via the vents either side of the step, they fixed that by fitting a baffle which is just a piece of rubber not dissimilar to a mudflap that just hangs from the floor to shield the vent, if AS know these things then why are they not fitted as standard… Like you we have a written report on AS headed paper so that should carry some clout in getting the dealer to investigate further, wouldn’t be so concerned but now knowing the vehicle has a history of water ingress maybe I’m being overly concerned but will admit it is rather worrying.

Just an update, have notified dealer of Auto-Sleepers findings, they claimed to be horrified… Suggested we continue to use the motorhome & when we are next there they will investigate the problem & take it from there, at least I’ve notified them while it’s still within warranty. 

While on the subject of damp testing others might be interested in this damp detector available on eBay & Amazon for around £30 & said to be pretty much as good as detectors used by dealers costing many hundreds of pounds, here’s a YouTube video showing it Link Here: Damp Detector Review

I had damp in ns locker  it was the 240 v and barbbarbecue fittings simple reseal sorted the problem,