Help a new guy w/ an L4?

Hello.
Have lurked for a while, but never posted before.
Wondering if you could offer some opinions about the L4 I've had for a few days?
First, the weird thing that happened: The first time the light was on for 3 or 4 minutes, it got REALLY hot to the touch and shut down. I tried to turn it on for a few minutes and gave up. 5 hours later, I tried to turn it on, no luck. Put in new Panasonics, no luck, put in new Surefires, bingo - it works again. 4 hours later, it works on the Panny's and the batteries it overheated on. Since then, it works fine and the high-pitched whine from the tailcap it had always had before the overheating is gone. What happened???
Second, the brightness. This thing does not live up to what I've read. It is not a "wall of light". It is not "brighter than my E2", it does not "embarrass a Mini-mag."
I'm no human lumen-meter, but to my eyes it is just barely brighter than the various 2AA LED lights I have, and not nearly as bright as my E2/G2/Scorpion's.
Did I get a lemon??
Thanks!

Check to see if all four segments of the led are lit. Use a dark filter or several sunglasses to view. One of my L4's had 2 segments burn out. Surefire replaced it without questions.

The L4 is a hot running light and the head should be heat sinked to your hand during extended run times.

All 4 emitters are lit up.
I love the color, slightly blue-ish white.
It just doesn't seem very bright at all.

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If you're comparing your L4 against your E2e/G2 within 25 feet and it's not nearly as bright, then you have defective L4.

Since you say it doesn't embarrass a MiniMag, I assume your L4 is defective.

It sounds like you could have a defective L4, given the rapid overheat and failure to run on new batteries. Send it back to the dealer if you purchased it recently; or else back to Surefire if you have had it for a long time.

Before you do that, make sure that the head of the L4 is tightened sufficiently. Sometimes they have to be screwed on quite firmly in order to ensure a solid electrical connection.

One thing that you should not expect from the L4 is a narrow, long-throwing beam. It is really a broad floodlight for use at medium range. So you shouldn't compare it to incandescent tactical lights by shining it at distant objects. The L4 will always seem dim if you use that test. Instead, see how well it lights up all the objects in a darkened room or garage. It should appear very bright by that standard.

I'll be returning it next week.
I took my wife in the garage and she couldn't distinguish
a noticeable difference between the L4 on fresh batt's and a 2AA CMG Reactor. Not cool.
Thanks for the help!!