Vokes was an old English filter manufacturer whose filter product was highly regarded in the industry. It had a long and distinguished career in the filtration industry. Vokes was involved in the production of Fuel & Lube Oil filters, air filters, transformer oil filtration Vokes Streamline and in a specialised area of aviation fuel filtration (AVCAT).
For more information on the history of Vokes and the evolution of its filtration business please see the section at the bottom of this page titled “A brief history of Vokes & the Vokes filter business”
Vokes specialised in the design and manufacture of filter elements for mid-speed diesel engines. In the Vokes world, a mid-speed diesel engine was anything from 500rpm to 1,200rpm (1 to 20mW). VOKES fuel and lubricating oil filters are to be found in power generation, marine engines (merchant & naval), rail traction, pumping and offshore applications.
To support this segment of the market where Vokes operated it developed the following ranges of liquid particulate filters & coalescers.
Vokes Top Servicing Fuel Filters (flows up to 68 m3/hr)
Vokes Compact Fuel Filters (flows up to 100l/min)
Vokes Top Servicing Lubricating Oil Filters (flows up to 360m3/hr)
Vokes Compact Drop Sump Lubricating Oil Filters (flows up to 270l/min)
Vokes Fuel & Lubricating Oil Coalescers (flows up to 12 m3/hr)
Vokes manufactured 2 main models of Coalescers namely the Vokes 360/ series which encompassed the Vokes 360/1, 360/6, 360/9, 360/12 coalescers. The “360” denoted the family of coalescer and the “/” denoted the specific model which identified amongst other things the max flow rate the unit could handle. The second series of Vokes coalescers was the Vokes 361/* series which encompassed the 361/1 and the 361/2 models
Filter elements for Vokes Coalescers included such filter element numbers as 6352498, 6370693, 6354365, and 6370465, C6370693, C6354365, C6370465, and C6352498.
Vokes filter coalescers utilised a three-stage process consisting of an initial particulate filter, followed by a two-stage coalescing process.
If you require replacement elements for a Vokes Coalescer then please contact us.
Vokes Fan assisted Oil Mist Eliminators (flows up to 3000m3/h)
A Brief History of Vokes Limited
Vokes Limited went through many changes of ownership over the last 50 years from what was once known as Vokes of Guildford or Vokes Filter UK to DCE Vokes, SPX Vokes and many many more. Below is a rough history of the company but we do not maintain that it is 100% accurate or complete but is merely meant to illustrate the many changes of ownership and company name. The multitude of ownership changes has made it increasingly difficult to find a Vokes distributor with good knowledge of the products, their history and compatibility of the right filter element with the corresponding filter vessel.
Vokes Limited Ingate Place, London
1921: Cecil Gordon Vokes (C.G. Vokes) formed the company bearing his name to manufacture and sell accessories for motor cars in the United Kingdom. The company was based in Ingate Place, London, S.W.S
1927: Vokes enters the filtration market after a visit by Mr Vokes to America where he discovered a company making air filters for engines. Filtration technology was virtually unknown in Europe at the time. Mr Vokes saw the potential of filtration for the engineering industry and secured the rights to manufacture filters in Britain.
1938: Vokes purchased a property in Alton, Hampshire (UK) to cope with additional demand. This facility was used alongside the existing factory in Putney, London.
1940: A bomb falls on the Putney factory. Due to its importance to the war effort, the company was instructed by the British Government to find premises outside of London. Vokes moved to Henley Park, Surrey (UK) – a large country estate which for many years had been a residence for the elderly gentry and set up operation in Henley Park House. Vokes went on to become one of the largest employers in the region (Normandy) and became known as Vokes of Normandy. There were a lot of local objections to Vokes establishing itself at Henley Park, mainly from the local gentry who knew that the factory would attract all the local labour and they would have to pay a lot more to get people to work on their estates. However, the emergency wartime powers overrode all objections. Vokes originally occupied the Henley Park house mansion to carry on their work of making filters, a vital cog in the war machine.
1943: An invasion fleet from America bound for Sicily was stuck in the middle of the Atlantic with clogged engines. Vokes staff at Henley Park worked night and day for three weeks, sleeping by their machines in the workshops, producing new filters that were flown out and parachuted down to the fleet, which was thus able to resume the invasion.
Vokes Limited, Henley Park, Guildford, Surrey
1958: About 1963 Vokes moved out of the Henley Park House and into its facility in Henley Park which had been built in 1958
1970: Mr C.G. Vokes retires and the company is acquired by Thomas Tilling. The Air filtration business is relocated to Burnley, Lancashire (UK). The business continues under the Vokes name.
1983: Thomas Tilling was acquired by BTR Plc. one of Britain’s largest and highly-regarded industrial groups. The business continues under the Vokes name.
1996: BTR restructures its filtration businesses to form BTR Environmental.
Vokes A McLeod Russell Company
2000: McLeod Russel acquires Vokes filtration under its Interfilta (UK) Ltd business. McLeod Russell already owns several filtration businesses including Infiltro in Spain.
2004: McLeod Russell Holdings PLC was acquired by a US Corporation and the facility in Guildford was closed.