Are OEM filters just like the brand ?

I cannot find the real resmed packaged hypoallergenic fters anywhere. Are the OEM ones the same ? I know the Crapria ones suck.
Thanks

OEM stands for Orgional Equipment Manufacturer. .. So they way the same, other brands are Generic, so buyer beware. OEM meet factory specs, others meet the specs they decide. Jim

I compared the ones that cpap.com supplies for the S9 to the ones I got that came in original ResMed seal packaging and I couldn't really tell any difference.

If you really want OEM filters..I will send you a link to where I found some.
Check your PM box in a few minutes.

Then you can compare for yourself.

When they are side by side, "I" can tell the difference between the ResMed brand & the generic ones.

The ResMed brand filters ARE a better quality.

My current DME has no problems always giving me the ResMed brand filters.
But, I think that is because they sell primarily Respironics & have to order everything ResMed & ship them to me. So, they don't stock generic filters for the S9.

Because my current DME would NOT order me an S9, I had to buy it from my previous DME before I left them.

I have had more than one DME "on the hook" at the same time.
What one can't get, I get from the other. No rule that I've seen says you can have only one.

The new Crapria filters are true crap. Thin as a sheet of paper. With the co-pay, I'm better off buying my own from now on.

This discussion brings up the Question.

Are there any National DMEs or online DMEs that will provide you with the ResMed brand hypoallergenic filters INSTEAD of the generic ones?

If you have two brands, cut them in half and tape them together. See which one turns grey first and that is the one you will want to buy.

If you have two brands, cut them in half and tape them together. See which one turns grey first and that is the one you will want to buy.

What a great idea!

-tim wrote:If you have two brands, cut them in half and tape them together. See which one turns grey first and that is the one you will want to buy.

Close to true, but for one flaw. The flow on the worst filter will be passing the most volume, correpting the outcome of the results. For the results of any test to be true, all perimeters must be equal. Jim

In general factory or real oem, meet the manufactures, others meet whatever they think they can get by selling, usually inferior.

Simply impossible to answer. Because there are no actual specs offered to patients to gauge the performance of CPAP (fine) filters, there is zero way to make a proper comparison like that. This is the fault of the industry itself. There should be a MERV rating for the filters or something, or at least a basic standard they should meet. Because they are medical devices, it's possible there already is such a basic standard that all such filters, even generic, must meet -- but such standards may simply not be publically promoted.

The generic fine filters my DME sends me are made in the US by a company called Care Fusion(?) and seem to be identical to the OEM filters from Respironics. The package is also marked Rx so, again, I assume that as a prescribed medical filter it has to meet a specific industry standard for such filters.

But the fact is the filters, including the oems, are ridiculously small and thin, and given the volume of air forced through them, likely do far less filtering than they really should. That will be the next frontier in CPAP design.

It would be nice to has a hepa filter sized to last 3 monthsofthe inlet side of your xpap, it wouldn't have to be bigger than a index card 1/2 thick, it might add a little to the size of the xpap, but not really. Resonable cost shouldnt be a factor. $ 5.00 at the most, less messing with the machine. Jim