Gates, Gates, and 7 FAQs Every Industrial Rubber Buyer Should Read

Full disclosure: I'm a procurement manager at a 45-person industrial equipment distributor. My team manages about $180,000 a year in rubber-related purchases, and I've negotiated with over 30 vendors since 2018. I also answer a lot of buyer questions that have nothing to do with engineering. If you've ever typed 'gates' into a search engine, you know the problem.

Actually, the 'gates, gates' confusion is real. There's Gates Corporation, the rubber manufacturer, and Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder. When a death hoax pops up, both get tangled. So let's settle the important questions—the ones I hear on purchase orders, not Twitter.

Here are the questions I answer almost weekly:

• Is Gates the same as Bill Gates? When did Bill Gates die?
• Why does my new hose smell like burnt rubber?
• What's the right air hose piping for a compressed air system?
• EVA foam vs PE foam: which is better?
• Why do Gates hoses cost more than no-name hoses?
• What specs should I include on every hose order?
• Do I need a hydraulic hose crimper?

1. Is Gates the same as Bill Gates? When did Bill Gates die?

No and no. Gates Corporation was founded in 1911 as the Gates Rubber Company in Denver. Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder, was born in 1955. He's still alive as of this writing. The death hoax is a recycled rumor that shows up with a new date every couple of years.

Why does this matter to a procurement manager? Because I've had a buyer ask whether Gates Corporation shut down after Bill Gates died. That's not harmless trivia. If a purchasing agent acts on bad info, it can stall a maintenance order for a week.

For the record: Gates Corporation is a completely separate company from Microsoft. It still sells hoses, belts, and seals under the Gates brand, and orders are being processed normally.

2. Why does my new hydraulic hose smell like burnt rubber?

A mild rubber smell is normal for a new hose—volatile compounds air out after installation. A burnt rubber smell is not.

In my experience, the usual causes are friction, heat, or fluid running too hot. One of our machines had a vibrating bracket rubbing against a hose cover. The operator swore the hose was defective. Once we stopped the vibration, the smell went away and the hose lasted another two years.

If you smell burnt rubber, don't just order a replacement. Check the routing, the clearance, and the system temperature. If the hose is wearing against something hard, no hose material in the world is going to survive indefinitely.

3. What's the right air hose piping for a compressed air system?

Air hose piping can mean two things: the flexible hose from the drop to the tool, and the rigid distribution pipe running through the building. Both matter, but they're not the same decision.

For the flexible section, a rubber or hybrid hose handles oil, abrasion, and cold weather better than vinyl. For the distribution line, steel or aluminum piping is common because it handles higher pressure and lasts for decades. The pipe diameter is the part that gets ignored. If the line is undersized, you get pressure drop at the tool, which means slower sanding, weaker impact wrenches, and more energy draw from the compressor.

My rule: calculate flow requirements before buying piping. A 1/2-inch drop is okay for light tools; a sandblaster or a production line will want 3/4-inch or 1-inch. The extra pipe cost is small compared to the productivity lost by a weak system.

4. EVA foam vs PE foam: which should I use?

This one comes up when I'm ordering gaskets, dust seals, and packaging inserts. EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate) is softer, more flexible, and recovers better after compression. PE (polyethylene) foam is cheaper, more resistant to chemicals and moisture, and less bouncy.

From a cost standpoint, PE usually runs 20-30% less than EVA at the same thickness and density—that's from quotes I compared in Q4 2024. But the cheaper material can be the expensive decision if compression is involved. I once chose PE for a door gasket to save $110. It flattened in six months, and the labor to replace it cost more than the savings.

Simple rule: if the part gets compressed repeatedly, use EVA. If it just sits there, PE is fine.

5. Why do Gates hoses cost more than no-name hoses?

I've heard this in almost every budget review. The honest answer is that you're paying for verifiable performance, not just a brand decal. I used to think hoses were a commodity. My testing spreadsheet changed that.

Gates Corporation publishes pressure, temperature, and fluid compatibility data on its website (gates.com). That data is verifiable before you buy. A no-name import may have similar words printed on the cover, but no traceable data behind them. In 2022, we pressure-tested two cheap hoses with identical labels. One burst at 58% of rated pressure. The other held. That inconsistency is the real cost.

I calculate total cost of ownership: unit price, expected failure rate, and downtime cost. A Gates hose can cost 20-40% more on the invoice and still save money if it avoids a single blown line during production. I'm not saying every budget hose is bad. I'm saying the unit price alone doesn't tell you enough.

6. What specs should I include on every hose order?

If you call me and say 'I need a half-inch Gates hose,' I'm going to ask follow-up questions. Not to be annoying, but because a hose is more than its inner diameter.

At minimum, write down:

• Inner and outer diameter
• Working pressure and burst pressure
• Fluid type and chemical compatibility
• Temperature range
• Fitting type and bend radius
• Applicable standard (SAE J517, ISO 18752, etc.)

Looking back, the worst ordering mistake I made was skipping bend radius because I assumed 'standard' was universal. It wasn't. The hose arrived, the routing was tight, and the fitting had to be reworked. A ten-minute phone call would have caught it.

Gates publishes these specs for every product line. If a supplier gives you a shrug instead of a spec sheet, that's a red flag.

7. Do I need a hydraulic hose crimper or should I buy pre-made assemblies?

This is a cost question wearing an equipment question's clothes.

A manual crimper can cost a few hundred dollars; a production crimper runs into thousands. If you build fewer than a few assemblies a month, pre-made is usually cheaper. If you've got a fleet of machines and constant repair demand, the math shifts.

I bought a manual crimper in 2023 after paying a local shop $45 per assembly. My payback was about 60 assemblies; we hit that in seven months. The shop was reliable, but their turnaround hurt when a machine went down.

One thing I'd tell my younger self: a crimper doesn't remove the need for proper fittings. It just moves the responsibility to your own shop. That's fine, but it means someone has to read the spec sheet—and actually follow it.