Filmax, Llc

What Filmax, Llc does

Filmax, LLC is a privately held industrial fluid filtration manufacturer founded in 1978 and headquartered in Loudon, Tennessee. The company designs and builds proprietary filtration systems, replacement filter elements, and mobile filtration services for the electric power, natural gas, industrial, mining, heavy machinery, marine, and food processing markets across North America and internationally. Its technology portfolio centers on patented depth wound cellulose media, molecular sieve Hydro Dry (FHD) filters for dissolved water removal, fullers earth and activated alumina absorption filters (FBA/FFE series), and a patented 425° hot melt adhesive sealing process. Product lines span a wide range of consumables (HY, DE, DF, H2OC, FI, WG, FF300 series filters) and capital equipment including F-Series housings, LT105 LTC filtration systems, FBR-310 circuit breaker units, TS-7100/TS-7200 portable main-tank filtration, F1105P/F2108P/FP2130 portable units at 3–30 GPM, wagon-mounted and stationary systems, mobile filtration trailers, and the OPT100 Mobile Dissolved Gas Analysis system integrated with Vaisala sensors and Systems With Intelligence.

Filmax generates revenue primarily through hardware sales of custom-designed filtration systems and ongoing replacement filter consumables, supplemented by mobile filtration services, spill control kits (via partnership with Fluid Tech), and Guardian Breathers (via Air Sentry distribution). Pricing is quote-based with no publicly disclosed tiers, and the company sells direct via a toll-free sales line (800-321-3895), email, and a website contact form. The go-to-market is sales-led and consultative, supported by 7,000+ machines installed since 1992 and a leadership team with deep utility industry tenure, including President Sherman Childers (since 2015) and VP Engineering Steve Leath, a licensed Professional Engineer with 30+ years in US electric utility asset maintenance. Recent strategic activity in 2025 — including three new product launches (OPT100, TS-7200, FP2130) and partnerships with Fluid Tech, Vaisala, and SWI — points to active expansion into adjacent transformer diagnostics and environmental compliance product lines.

Name

Filmax, Llc

Legal name

Filmax, LLC

Website

https://filmaxllc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Filmax, LLC designs and manufactures industrial oil filtration systems, replacement filters, and mobile filtration services for power utilities, natural gas operators, heavy machinery, mining, marine, and food processing customers across North America.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Fluid Filtration Equipment

NAICS

Pump and Compressor Manufacturing (33391)

SIC

Oil & Gas Field Machinery & Equipment (3533)

akta.pro primary industry

Filtration, Condition Monitoring & Fluid Management (Filters, Breathers, Oil Analysis, Cooling) (IMAHAGAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Separation & Filtration Equipment (Filters, Centrifuges, Membranes) (IMAHAEAB), Industrial Filtration Media & Dust Collection Textiles (Air/Liquid Filtration) (IMAOADAC)

Keywords

• Industrial oil filtration
• Fluid filtration systems
• Transformer oil filtration
• Hydraulic filtration equipment
• Mobile oil filtration

Headquarters

HQ city

Loudon

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Filtration Equipment Sales: Sale of custom-designed and standard filtration systems including portable, stationary, and mobile units for various industrial applications ranging from 3-30 gallons per minute capacity.
2. Replacement Filters: Ongoing sales of replacement filter elements including hydraulic, diesel engine, gear, insulating, turbine oils, and specialty filters for various industrial applications.
3. Spill Control Products: Sale of spill control kits for oil, PCBs, organics, acids, bases and aggressive chemicals through partnership with Fluid Tech.
4. Mobile DGA Services: OPT100 Mobile Dissolved Gas Analysis equipment and services for transformer performance monitoring.
5. Mobile Filtration Services: Trailer-based mobile filtration services providing on-site high-flow oil filtration up to 30 GPM with temporary storage capabilities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Filmax designs and manufactures industrial oil filtration systems, replacement filter elements, and mobile filtration solutions for heavy-duty fluid power applications. The company supplies custom-designed and standard filtration systems — portable, stationary, and mobile units ranging from 3 to 30 gallons per minute — along with specialty filters, filtration housings, and on-site mobile filtration services for power, natural gas, heavy machinery, marine, and industrial customers.

Product overview

Filmax, LLC is an industrial fluid filtration company established in 1978, offering a comprehensive portfolio of oil filtration systems and replacement filters for the power, natural gas, industrial, mining, and diesel engine markets. The product portfolio centers on multiple filter types (HY hydraulic, DE diesel engine, DF diesel fuel, FHD Hydro Dry water removal, FBA/FFE absorption and acid removal, H2OC Hydro Carbon Plus, FI pleated, WG water glycol, and specialty FM/FMX filters) and filtration systems (LT105 LTC series, FBR-310, TS-7100/TS-7200 main-tank units, portable F-series units at 3-30 GPM, wagon-mounted and stationary systems). The portfolio extends to mobile filtration trailers, the OPT100 Mobile DGA dissolved gas analysis system with Vaisala and SWI integration, Air Sentry Guardian Breathers as a distributed product, and spill kits via Fluid Tech partnership. The products work together as an integrated approach to industrial fluid maintenance, with filters designed to fit housings and systems, and systems available in portable, mobile, and stationary configurations to address every customer scenario from routine filtration to emergency on-site service.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Guardian Breathers: Air Sentry Guardian Breathers offered by Filmax, featuring contamination control breathers with check valve technology
• OPT100

Products and services

• HY Series Hydraulic Filters Depth wound cellulose media filters for hydraulic, compressor, insulating, turbine, and transmission oils with superior particulate, carbon, and dirt removal, including free and emulsified water removal capability. Models include HY4004, HY2002, HY6006, HY2501.
• DE Series Diesel Engine Filters Filters for gear, engine, quench, and lubricating oil applications for diesel engine oil filtration. Models include DE4011, DE6011, DE2011, DE2511.
• DF Series Diesel Fuel Filters Diesel fuel filters including DF4110 and DF4110-V models for filtering diesel fuel and fuel oil applications.
• FHD Hydro Dry Series Filters Molecular sieve filters for superior dissolved water removal from hydraulic and insulating oils with high moisture absorption capacity. Models include FHD718, FHD1107, and FHD1107-MRZA.
• FBA Absorption Filters Fuller's earth and activated alumina filters for comprehensive oil reconditioning, removing acid, varnish, and oxidation products. Models include FBA718 and FBA1107.
• FFE Filters Specialized filters that remove acid, varnish, corrosive gases, oxidation products and polar compounds from insulating oils. Models include FFE718 and FFE1107.
• FF300 Stack Disk and Hybrid Filters High flow filters for superior particulate, carbon, and dirt removal with ability to remove free and emulsified water for insulating oils and bulk oil cleaning. Models include FF300KSA-US and FF300-UPO.
• H2OC Hydro Carbon Plus Filters Particulate and water removal filters for hydraulic, circuit breaker, silicone dielectric, switch gear, tap changer, transformer, and turbine oils available in various micron sizes. Models include H2OC-718, H2OC-822, H2OC-829.
• F-Series Filtration Housing Filtration housings designed for various reservoir sizes: F-500 for up to 5 gallons, F-750 for up to 10 gallons, F-1000 for up to 20 gallons, and F-3000 for reservoirs greater than 20 gallons.
• LT105 Series LTC Filtration Systems Water and particulate filtration systems designed to filter arcing load tap changers (LTCs) and voltage regulators. Models include LT105-B1 (most popular), LT105-C1 (with programmable timer), LT105-FV1-CS, and LT105-FV1.
• FBR-310 Filtration System Water and particulate filtration system for oil circuit breakers, three tank diverters, and three-phase voltage regulators, designed to filter 3 individual reservoirs.
• TS-7100 Portable Main-Tank Filtration Portable main-tank filtration unit designed to remove moisture on reservoirs up to 9,000 gallons on energized transformers.
• TS-7200 Portable Main-Tank Filtration Portable main-tank filtration unit featuring dual canisters for greater media surface area, enabling faster and more efficient filtration on time-sensitive jobs.
• F1105P/F2108P/FP2130 Portable Filtration Systems Portable filtration systems at 3 GPM (F1105P), 6 GPM (F2108P), and 30 GPM (FP2130) capacities designed to meet specific customer filtration needs.
• Wagon Series Portable Filtration Wagon-style portable filtration systems including FHF2130 WAGON (30 GPM), 3 BANK WAGON, and 4 BANK WAGON with ISO code standard compliance for industrial fluids.
• Stationary Filtration Systems Stationary filtration systems including 1105-S (3 GPM), 2108-S (6 GPM), 2130-S (30 GPM), 3 BANK STATIONARY, and 4 BANK STATIONARY for permanent installation on industrial fluid reservoirs.
• Mobile Filtration Services Trailer-based mobile filtration solutions providing high-flow oil filtration up to 30 GPM in the field, with multiple storage tanks for temporary storage of clean or dirty oil. Custom solutions for water, particulate, or pH correction.
• OPT100 Mobile DGA Mobile Dissolved Gas Analysis system for transformer oil testing. Integrates with Vaisala sensors and optional Systems With Intelligence (SWI) for comprehensive transformer performance and protection monitoring.
• Air Sentry Guardian Breathers Contamination control breathers with Tritan construction, isolation check valve technology, integrated compound vacuum/pressure gauge, and stackable modular design. Features color-indicating silica gel and 2-micron self-cleaning filtration.
• Spill Kits Advanced spill control solutions offered through partnership with Fluid Tech. Products include Enviro-G for oil, PCBs, and organics cleanup, and Enviro-Z for acids, bases, and aggressive chemicals.

Quantifiable outcome

• Oil drain intervals extended up to 5x OEM recommendation for diesel engines
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Fluid TechcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025Filmax and Fluid Tech have joined forces to bring advanced spill control to the utility and industrial markets. The partnership combines Filmax innovation with Fluid Tech absorbent science, delivering durable, field-ready solutions for rapid, permanent cleanup from substations to shop floors. Products include spill kits for oil, PCBs, organics, acids, bases and aggressive chemicals.
• VaisalacoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership for OPT100 Mobile Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA) solutions. Vaisala sensors and technology integrated with Filmax's OPT100 system for transformer performance monitoring and dissolved gas analysis in the field.
• Systems With Intelligence (SWI)coreTechnology or IntegrationSWI (Systems With Intelligence) integration available with the OPT100 mobile DGA system. Together, Filmax, Vaisala, and SWI redefine transformer performance and protection capabilities through combined mobile dissolved gas analysis solutions.
• Air SentrycoreTechnology or IntegrationAir Sentry Guardian Breathers offered through partnership. Air Sentry set the industry gold standard with their first line of contamination control breathers in 1997. Guardian breathers feature Tritan construction, isolation check valves, integrated gauges, and stackable modular design. Filmax offers these as part of their product portfolio for contamination control.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Eaton Corporation: Power management company with industrial filtration products serving electrical utility and heavy industrial customers. Comparable to Filmax in transformer/LTC and switchgear filtration applications but operates as part of a much larger diversified portfolio.
• Donaldson Company: Large global filtration company with broad hydraulic, industrial, and engine filtration lines. Operates at significantly larger scale than Filmax but serves many of the same heavy machinery, diesel engine, and industrial customers with overlapping filter and system products.
• Parker Hannifin: Diversified industrial manufacturer with a substantial filtration division covering hydraulic, lube, and fuel filtration. Competes with Filmax in hydraulics and natural gas/diesel filtration while offering much broader system-level capabilities.
• Pall Corporation: Filtration and separation specialist within Danaher serving industrial, aerospace, and life sciences markets. Overlaps with Filmax in industrial fluid filtration for power generation, oil & gas, and heavy machinery but at far larger scale and broader portfolio.

Direct peers

• Velcon Filters: Industrial filtration manufacturer specializing in fuel, oil, and hydraulic filtration for aviation, utility, and industrial markets. Directly comparable product lines to Filmax's DE diesel, DF fuel, and insulating oil filter families.
• Des-Case Corporation: Industrial filtration and contamination-control breather manufacturer; competes directly with the Air Sentry Guardian Breather line that Filmax resells and offers overlapping oil-maintenance and breather products for similar industrial customers.
• HYDAC International: Global manufacturer of industrial filtration, hydraulics, and fluid conditioning products. Overlaps directly with Filmax in hydraulic and lubrication filtration, serving similar heavy machinery, marine, and industrial customers with comparable offline filtration systems.
• Filtertech: Industrial filtration systems manufacturer serving metalworking, oil reclamation, and process-fluid applications. Comparable to Filmax in stationary and portable filtration system design for industrial fluid-cleaning use cases.
• CJC (CC Jensen): Specialist in offline oil filtration systems for industrial lubrication and hydraulic fluids. Directly comparable product offering to Filmax's portable and stationary filtration systems, serving similar wind, power, marine, and heavy industry customers.
• Schroeder Industries (Boll & Kirch): Industrial filtration and fluid conditioning solutions for hydraulic and lubrication systems with comparable depth-filtration and water-removal products. Serves mining, marine, power, and heavy machinery customers that overlap with Filmax's core verticals.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/FilmaxLLC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/filmax-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Filmax, Llc