About the heat and the runtime, I did some back of the envelope calculations. I collected some specs and data and wrote them down.
Now, from experience, I have noticed that these guys use the term “theoretical” when they state lumen vs actual.
It’s easy to figure out where their stated 32,000 lumen comes from, that’s just 8 LEDs times 4022 lumen each
Here is one way to calculate “theoretical” run time until 50 degree Celcius kick down. I will assume here that all heat is sinked into the body of the light and that there is no delta T from the star to the tailcap. Also I will assume there is no heat shed via convection or radiation during. (there would be some, and that would extend it somewhat)
Using the data I collected and something I call “dimensional analysis” I came up with a formula using relevant numbers from above and came up with this.
71 seconds until the body of the light reaches 50 Celsius, up from 25 room temperature.
If I count the wattage emitted out the front using 683 lumens = 1 watt, that would decrease the heat wattage from 256 to 209.15 Watts.
That would extend the runtime to 105 seconds. That is a lttile more, but not the stated 3 minutes, 180 seconds.
Even so, my calculations are very liberal and would not reflect real world results. All kinds of factors would reduce the runtime till kickdown.
Here are some that quickly come to mind.
Decrease in efficiency of the LED as temps go up.
Added heat from the batteries.
The Delta T from the LED and star to the body.
etc
As I mentioned, there are a number of other unaccounted factors that would increase the runtime, but not by that much IMHO.
Also I could be wrong in the use of my numbers and assumptions.
I think we all know that this light can not perform quite as they state, but WHO CARES, I want one!