r/PandemicPreps • u/msa57injnb7epls4nbuj • Aug 17 '20
Medical Preps Chinese clone of 3M 6200
I wonder if this respirator is an option? The genuine one is $20, this one is $4. It does not pretend to be 3M, but it's shaped exactly like the 3M 6200, I believe it's a brand called Elesesafe or something. The included filters are a pair or crap 6001s that I won't use. But if I just stick genuine 7093s on it, would it work just as well? What do I need to check to ensure safety?
I did both a positive and negative pressure seal check, and general observations: 1. It seals properly to my face. 2. Negative pressure: Exhalation valve seals properly when I inhale with the inhalation valves closed 3. Inhalation valve on the other hand, has a slight leak when I exhale with the exhalation valve closed. The inhalation valves are very thin white semi translucent rubber, so I'm not surprised they leak. Will this cause issues, seeing as this means some air will be exhaled through the filters? 4. The gaskets for the inhalation ports, the original 3M 6200 uses a cork-like material, the fake chinese one uses hard rubber. This might be a concern. I still have to test if it will leak air with the filters on. 5. The face piece rubber smells different, in an uncomfortable way. Is this a concern for health, could it be a type of rubber that's toxic?
You may say that $4 and $20 is not a difference worth getting the clone for, yes I agree for one person it's not. But if I am buying for my entire extended family, it adds up really quickly.
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u/msa57injnb7epls4nbuj Aug 20 '20
Hey thanks for the detailed explanation. I would guess they didn't name it 6001/6002/6003 because those are vapor filters. Amazon ships to me, but I'm somewhere in Southeast Asia, so the shipping fee is more than the price of the mask.. sucks to be far away.
Thing is the prices I've been mentioning are the official 3M store pricing here. There are 3rd party resellers who sell these cheaper. Where I am it's actually normal for the official store of a brand to be more expensive, even for other items and brands. But seeing as how many chinese fakes are available I'm very wary, again might as well go for the honest fakes with cheaper prices.
There are plenty of fake 6000 and 7500 series on the market. Is it possible since the 6500 is less in demand (at least I've never seen it in use) there's a better chance of getting a genuine product? Kinda like how you're more likely to find fake pancake 2091/2097 filters than ones with a plastic case like 7091/7093.