$4.88 Ozark Trail (Wal-Mart) 7-LED Lantern

[Skibane]

Anyone else see this? It looks a lot like the original River Rock 4AA cell LED lantern (and the Deal Extreme enhanced models), but has seven 5MM LEDs (6 white, 1 red) mounted facing upwards from the bottom of the globe. Has a 4-position clickie switch - 3 white LEDs, 6 white LEDs, 1 blinking red LED, and off.

The 4 AA cells are mounted in a removable carrier. The light dispersion is certainly no better than the River Rock - very peaky in the vertical plane. However, a little bit of sandpaper on the globe would probably improve things considerably.

Construction quality looks surprising good, especially for the price...

I'm doing a run-time test right now, using 2100 mAH Kodak Pre-Charged's.

 

[Skibane]

Finally got around to updating this post...

Run-time is almost exactly 48 hours at nearly full brightness on the 2100 mAH Kodaks, using the 3-LED setting (which seems to be almost as bright as the 6-LED setting, for some strange reason).

The original cone-shaped chrome-plated plastic reflector (left) produces very uneven light dispersion - Can be improved considerably by unscrewing the top cap and replacing the reflector with a circular piece of slightly oversized foam plastic (right). This foam is commonly used as padding in shipping boxes. The oversize shape makes it curve when inserted inside the clear "chimney", spreading the light in a much smoother pattern.

For the money, this is an excellent light, IMO. I've bought almost a dozen of them for various family members as hurricane lanterns, and all of them have been problem-free - Great for applications where long run-time and cheap purchase cost are more important than high brightness.

 

[DM51]

I'm moving this to the Lantern sub-forum.

 

[filibuster]

Have you noticed a small current draw even when the lantern is turned off?

I thought there might be a small LED locater beacon or battery indicator that's always on but I can't find it if it's there.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Have you noticed a small current draw even when the lantern is turned off?

I thought there might be a small LED locater beacon or battery indicator that's always on but I can't find it if it's there.

if it has an electronic switch it may just be a poor design. I had a tap light that was supposed to turn off after awhile..... it worked but had a fatal design flaw... is had a 10ma drain while idling waiting for you to hit the switch. It would drain batteries doing nothing in about 7-10 days

 

[Photon Joe]

I have one of the lanterns pictured and found that taking a piece of wax paper and cutting it to size and shape to line the inside of the globe gives greatly enhanced light distribution.
It makes the entire globe glow and fills the room with even light.
Also the red does the same and would be seen much farther than without it.

 

[greenlight]

cutting it to size and shape to line the inside of the globe..

What globe?

 

[johnlvs2run]

Great ideas. I'm planning to get a couple of these.

Could 1 led be used in the 3 led setting,
and would this increase the run time to 144 hours?

 

[LukeA]

What globe?

The clear part is the globe.

 

[tslrc]

I bought one to try, and 1 of the white LED's wasn't working. I returned for a refund, but may try getting another one. I initially had hoped the low mode with 1 LED was a white LED, didn't realize it was red.

 

[johnlvs2run]

Ozark Trail mini led camp lantern

I got the Ozark Trail mini led camp lantern today for $5.
The bulbs don't seem to be removable, and the blinking red led is quite dim.

It's a good lantern and puts out a nice light for the price.

I also got a Rayovac brilliant solutions long range led flashlight for $4.88, that runs
for 100 hours on 3 AAA batteries included, a 100,000 hour bulb and magnified lens.

 

[Robocop]

I was shopping last week and noticed my local Wal-Mart had a shelf with at least 50 of these things in stock. I bought one and honestly it is a basic set up however actually pretty decent for 5 dollars.

I was able to easily get mine apart and it looks like a very easy swap if you want to change out the LEDs. I plan to change the red one out however I am not sure if the red LED uses a different amount of power than the others. It looks like there are three resistors with a simple direct drive set up on the circuit board holding the LEDs. I guess one resistor is for the red while the others are for the 2 levels of white LEDs.

I stretched some plastic film around the globe and it worked pretty well to diffuse the beam. For the cost I really like this light and if nothing else it can serve as a nightstand light for those bathroom trips.

 

[varuscelli]

Hey, I saw these last night at Wal-Mart and almost picked one up. I noticed that they seemed to have a magnet built into the base as they were sticking semi-vigorously to the metal shelf. But then again, I was in Wal-Mart so late at night that I might have been hallucinating.

Magnet in the base or no?

 

[Robocop]

Yes mine has a magnet in the base however it is not very strong. It may keep it from tipping over however will not hold the light horizontally if attatched to a metal base.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I had one that was sticking upside down from a shelf on the magnet(s). I think they have 4 of those semi strong rare earth ones. I was sort of wondering if you could replace the 5mm LEDs with a high power LED and get things to work right as it would be a cheap way to have a decent LED lantern that is small for under the $20+ price of the premade ones. I would buy a nice LED for a flashlight to replace the one in it and use the old LED in one of these if it would work right.

 

[Robocop]

I have a few spare LEDs from the latest generation Dorcy AAA board and plan to try a swap tonight. My plan is to also replace the red LED with a white one as well. The swap seems to be easy as the board is very easy to get to and a fine tip soldering iron should work.

I would really like to use some of my uncut MJ LEDs for this swap however they are in my Inova X5 and do very well with that host.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

the red one is probably set for about 2v input so you may have to change or remove a dropping resistor to get enough current to the white one in its place. I could love to see pics of the guts of one of those as I think yanking out the 5mm LEDs and puttin in a luxeon or cree could make a cheap LED lantern without the 5mm LED issues.

 

[Robocop]

If I can get my g/f to allow me the use of her much better camera I will try to get a few pics up soon of the insides. It is really a simple set up and a swap should be simple as well.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

well I think it possibly could be a cheap 3 watt LED lantern. I have been looking at the LED lanterns using 1watt+ LEDs and most of them are about $15 and up online and $20+ at stores. They should be able to take even a lux1 and put it in one of those cases for about $3 more I would think.

 

[matt4270]

Not bad for 5 bucks. I had one to use on the patio and it was fine, but I loaned it to my girlfriend to go to a baby shower on a stormy night. She threw it into a big, Macy's shopping bag with whatever else she took, and the next day the switch was completly caved in and ruined. (Not very roadworthey!) In all fairness, this girl could probably destroy a Mercedes Unimog if I lent her one!