I'm very skeptical about spotlights, their billion-candlepower and ridiculous bulb wattage ratings.
I have a several-of-the-usual-million-CP spotlight that shipped to me and got beat by my Surefire P91 (on R123s too) first day it got home. DMM confirmed it was pulling 20 watts. That spot needed a LOT of help, a lot of TLC, and some expert assistance to get fixed.
They claimed it was 12V 100W, and on the base of the H3 bulb it even said 150W. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif
Anyway, after I completely rebuilt the internals and exchanged the battery, that spotlight finally realized its destiny - with a TRUE 100W Osram monster bulb installed up front. And DAAAAAAMNNNNNN it is scary bright!!
I am planning to organize an egg frying session with the spotlight this weekend. Think I'll make it an over easy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
PS: you may usually be able to address the problem by finding out what bulb the spotlight uses then going out and buying an auto bulb of REPUTABLE make (Philips/Osram come to mind) and installing it. The first upgrade I made before turning my spot into its 100W incarnation right now was to exchange the H3 bulb for a Philips 1600 lumen H3/55W, ahh what a relief. Great bulb (definitely, compared to the stock bulb).