New Old Stock
The English expression New Old Stock (NOS) means "new from old stock". It refers to components and devices whose production has been discontinued, but which z. B. from spare parts stocks (unused) are available.
The designation is also used for components or devices that were manufactured before new regulations were issued and therefore may not meet them, but may still be sold (for a transitional period) or used (also for replacement requirements). An example of such a regulation is the EU RoHS directive, which has banned the use of some pollutants such as lead , mercury and cadmium in electrical and electronic equipment since July 1, 2006. This is to ensure that the hazardous substances, as far as technically possible, do not end up in the environment during production or later disposal.
Another example is electron tubes , which have now largely been replaced by semiconductors , but are still very popular in some applications, e.g. B. for high-end hi-fi or guitar amplifiers . Tubes from manufacturers that no longer exist are partly still available from old military spare parts stocks. Some of them have different properties than tubes from current production and are therefore in great demand.
Confusion of the term
Easily confused with the identical abbreviation NOS ( N ever O ut of S tock ), which stands for constant availability. Due to the similarity of the abbreviations, misunderstandings are possible, especially with regard to the product names in online shops.
