#Product Trends
GATES ADVANCES POWERGRIP™ HTD™ BELT WITH NEW EPDM COMPOUND
EPDM compound transition delivers enhanced performance, regulatory alignment, and seamless customer continuity
Gates (NYSE: GTES), a global manufacturer of innovative, highly engineered power transmission and fluid power solutions, is implementing a material transition within its PowerGrip HTD synchronous belt portfolio. As part of a running production change, standard chloroprene compounds used in HTD 8 mm and 14 mm pitch belts will be replaced with an advanced EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) compound.
The material update builds on the significant market success of the PowerGrip GT4™ platform, where EPDM technology has already demonstrated strong reliability and customer acceptance. By extending EPDM across the standard HTD range manufactured globally, Gates is standardising elastomer technology across its portfolio.
The advanced EPDM compound is in alignment with evolving customer expectations, material standards, and regulatory requirements. With this change, Gates 8M and 14M HTD belts are now static conductive in European ATEX environments. EPDM also offers enhanced temperature resistance, strong ageing stability, and excellent durability in demanding industrial environments. This update is limited to material composition only, product dimensions, performance, part numbers, and product ordering remain unchanged.
"Innovation at Gates is both building for what’s next and continuously looking at what we already make and asking whether we can do better. The PowerGrip HTD transition is a good example of that mindset. By applying the same advanced EPDM compound proven in our GT4 platform to an established product line, we are able to deliver broader application compatibility, better material choices and the same great performance to customers - with no disruption to how current customers specify or order them," said Heath Himstedt, global product line director, industrial synchronous drives at Gates.
By standardising on EPDM technology, Gates reinforces its commitment to materials innovation, sustainable product development. To explore the full Gates industrial synchronous belt portfolio and learn how these solutions support a wide range of industrial applications, visit gates.com.
