To complete this thread I think I have worked out what was going on.
I am running a 200w solar panel and NOT on the 240v EHU...since February this has been sufficient to run the fridge 24/7 without reducing battery power if required.
Edit: not that I have run the fridge 24/7 since February, but in terms of power consumption I could have...if you get my drift.
I had to turn the fridge up to power level 4 in order to combat the excessive heat in the van (black van, windows closed, direct sun).
The inside of the van was reaching up to 40c, the fridge was reading 4c...so you can imagine it was working hard full time.
Whilst the solar panel can keep up with the fridge demand during normal temperatures, say 25c in the van and 6-8c in the fridge, it can't provide enough power to keep up with the fridge demand 24/7 and as such depleted the leisure battery over a period of 2/3 days.
I gave the car a good run, it needed about 2 hours driving to bring the leisure battery up to a decent enough standard to be able to kick the fridge in again and all seems well now.
What I would say is that the fridge works well as a cool box if needed....line the bottom/sides with some ice packs and away you go!
Thanks all for dipping in
