Ozark Trail - Wal-Mart 4xAA zoomie - Teardown mini review

I found three new Ozark Trail lights in Wal-Mart. They were all zoomie lights. A 3xAAA, a 3xAA and a 4xAA. They are all under $15, so I got the 4xAA light. I figured I might just use it and I like the fact that, when zoomed out, the spot is round instead of the dreaded square die. It's advertised at 350 lumens (XP-G2 I believe) and that seems to be correct. I don't like the UI. H/M/Strobe, with no mode memory and you have to cycle thru to get back to off. So, I thought I might mod it.

The light

50mm lens

4xAA in series

Cheap pressed in Tail cap insert that contacts the two sets of AA batteries

Nice round spot and the flood is also smooth

The lens is concave on top and there is a textured area, which probably smooths out the flood.

In the center is a slightly aspheric section, which must produce the center spot when zoomed out

The back side

The white plastic cup under the lens, which sits around the center post. The cup also probably aids in making a smoother flood.

The center post cover is screwed on and it also acts as the forward travel stop for the head.

LED on heat sink. There is a shelf under the led.

The whole pill assembly screws out and the switch/driver comes out the front with it.

The driver/switch - it's a momentary switch

I really would like to see someone make some of these lenses for sale, for us to use in modding. They are much better than the aspheric lenses, because of the round spot. I would like to see a glass one too.

Anyhow, there's the tear down in case anyone is interested before buying. I think this light would be a good light to mod, be it a more powerful driver or a led and driver change. With 4xAA Eneloops, it could easily push an XP-L to 4+ amps and might be a really nice thrower. For the price, these lights are a good cheap alternative for a zoomie that you don't have to wait for a month to get from China.

Nice!

I wonder if anyone has done a teardown of the black Bushnell lights that Walmart carries, I really like the hosts. I might buy one and tear it apart to see if it can be modded.

Hey Old-Lumens are you still avoiding lion cells? Thought you once wrote that you were even trying to replace your phone battery with something safer? Then I see you do review of lion flashlight. Not talking about this review. But didn’t I notice you using Li-Ion lights?

Thanks OL. It looks like it has had a bit of thought put into it by the way its put together. BLF A6 +1 driver?

I saw this yesterday and had the same thoughts. How are the batteries wired? Would it be possible to put in an xhp35 hi and run it on 4x14500s? The runtimes probably wouldn’t be the best and heat no doubt an issue but it would sure make for a pocket rocket.

in my early days on here? i bought a couple/several of walmart ozark trail lights…

the original ozark trail “OT250” was upgraded to “OT300”… but NOW i see that have a zoomie model. the body and the OT250 had same/similar 4xAA setup (they are in series if you look) same/similar tailcap/body/switch and even used a square driver board like that.

thing is though? the PILL and LENS look like dead ringers of the coast i tore apart, lol… (which walmart ALSO sold previously) so they are “learning” and copied the pill/lens form the 1000 lumen coast… and put it on the ozark trail ot250/ot300 body and driver setup…

the old setup? cheap aluminum star on a tin plate, tin plate on plastic fingers… NO heat able to get out… now, with THIS setup? its more mod friendly…

BTW, i personally cant stand zsoomies that stop short of focusing the emitter… made me hate my 1000 lumen coast… this unfortunately looks like the exact same setup. I just cant get “maximum throw” when the emitter isnt focused up… i realize the “coast lens” its great for lux meters and calculating theoretical candelas and all that… but, not having maximum throw is a drawback to me.

you can get further max distance, with less lumens, when you can focus up the emitter,

===

now, all that said? at the PRICE… i like this. the 3-C model zoomie at walmart? if it has this same pill, it looks like it might be good for a 3-LiIon (25500?? eh?) and put something “substantial” on the pill…

@OL: fun teardown. Always nice to see what’s inside.

@arow55: The batteries in the pictures look to be Duracell Alkies. Then OL also mentions Eneloops. Not sure how this is a Li-Ion flashlight……might have interesting consequences.

Wasn’t talking about this light. Thought I’d seen him review other lights that were Li-Ion. Edited original post that was confusing.

Looks like it has the same lens & Post design as a Defiant Zoomie model of a couple years ago from HomeDepot. I really like the design over the traditional zoomie (as in SK98s) as the Defiant version still has a good flood spill when zoomed to throw. (i gave one away for my 1k post, and still have half a dozen of them new in package.

Probably all made in the same factory and branded as needed.

Nice! That is an interesting lens/optic. Looks like a nice hotspot for a something without a reflector.

It looks like the new Ozark Trail lights have twice the battery life as the old Ozark Trail lights. I wore through the rubber power button on my old 6 cell so it is no longer water proof. It lasted 2 years bolted to the front of my bicycle so I can’t complain. It is also nice to know that the new 4 cell comes apart so you can force a stuck battery through. That was not the case with the old 6 cell light.

That actually looks like it could be easy to strip the driver and piggy back a good driver. Looks like some heat could be removed in that pill. I may have to try one when they go on clearance.