Where can I buy Valves for watercooling?

[petreza]

I can not find an online seller of valves with which I can control the flow rate of the water. I will be using 1/2" silicone tubes.

Any information about that or an alternative method of controling the flow rate ( other than squeezing the tube ) would be greatly appreciated.

[f155mph]

Try Lowes or Home Depot, I think I saw some brass valves there b4.

[Brant]

why do you want to lower the flow?

[FrozenInHI]

clamps might work, just tighten them down on a piece of tubing (gawd i wouldn't know why you'd want to) but they should work great.

[petreza]

Try Lowes or Home Depot, I think I saw some brass valves there b4.

I was in Home Depot and they had brass valves but they were designed for brass tubes with threading( I believe that is the right word for the spiral used to tighten the tube to the valve). They also had plastic valves for PVC tubes. There were two kinds - with threading and without. I believe that on the later one you use only glue ( PVC cement or watever it is called ). I might use those but only as a last option. What I really wanted is a valve with connectors similar to those found on the water blocks. The connectors that you slide the tube on top and tighten it with clamps. Question: Any idea if anyone sells/makes those?



why do you want to lower the flow?

and

gawd i wouldn't know why you'd want to

Well, my original plan was this:
The water goes from the pump to the radiator to the video card water block to the processor and back to the pump.
The problem is that the only piece that is not 1/2" but 3/8" is the video card water block. It will lower the rate of the whole system - one because it has tighter diameter and two I would have to put 1/2"-to-3/8" adaptors before and after the video card water block.
So what I decided is to get a "T" ( or a "Y" ) and split the flow into two streems one for the video and one for the processor. Then using another "T" I would join the two streems together.
The reason I might need a valve is that eventhough this way the video card will get less flow than the processor it still might get too much of it. By putting a valve on the video card streem I can give it just as much flow as it needs and the rest of the flow would go to the processor.



clamps might work, just tighten them down on a piece of tubing

Sounds good but you see I am new at water cooling. I would not know how tough is 1/2" silicon tubing. ( I have not got even a single piece of my rig yet. ) Question: Can 1/2" tubing sustain a squeeze from a clamp ( without anything inside the tube ) sufficient to damatically lower the flow rate without it braking? ( the clamps I plan to use are these (http://becooling.safeshopper.com/13/70.htm?918) .)


Thank you for all the help!

P.S. What is "gawd" ?

[FrozenInHI]

I think the worst you'd encounter using clamps is a small amount of enlargement in the tubing, it will sustain the squeeze fine, i accidentally did this while tightening a clamp on a fitting, it'd slipped off the barb and was just on tubing, i tightened it without watching (was watching TV at same time) and it squeezed it pretty hard, and left it that way, it ran fine for a day until i went back in to do something else and noticed it.