seek
Most plumbing repairs at home are small: a tap that drips, a toilet that keeps running, a slow leak under the sink. The hard part is often not the repair. It is standing in a shop, holding a wet piece of brass or plastic, without the word for it.
Plumbing parts have names that nobody learns at school: cartridge, olive, trap, flapper, aerator. This guide shows how to use Seek to get the name from a photo, what to measure so the replacement fits, and when to stop and call a plumber.
Quick answer
Turn the water off, take the part out, dry it, and scan it with Seek to get its name and category (for example “tap cartridge”, Plumbing). Then measure it: length, width, and for tap parts the number of small teeth on top. Look for a brand name on the tap or toilet. Use Find It to look for where to buy, repair guides and similar items, and take the old part with you to compare.
A worked example: the brass part inside a dripping tap
The kitchen tap drips. You turn off the water under the sink, pull off the handle, and unscrew a brass part about as long as a finger. It has a ring of small teeth on top where the handle sat, a six-sided section for a spanner, a thread, and rubber seals at the bottom.
You dry it and scan it. Seek suggests a tap cartridge (in the United States, a faucet cartridge) in the plumbing category. You ask Ask Seek, “What does it do?” The answer: it is the valve inside the tap. Turning the handle turns the cartridge, which opens and closes the water. When its seals wear out, the tap drips.
So the fix is a new cartridge, but which one? This is where a photo is not enough. You count the teeth on top, measure the length, and note that it came from the hot side. Then Find It helps you look for where to buy one, repair guides for changing it, and similar items. The image at the top of this page is an illustration, not an app screen.
Step by step: from a leak to the right part
- Turn the water off. Use the small valve under the sink or behind the toilet, or the main valve for the home. Open the tap to let the pressure out.
- Photograph before you take it apart. One photo of the whole tap or toilet inside, so you remember the order of the pieces.
- Scan the part. Dry it, put it on a plain surface, and scan it with Seek. You get a name, a category and a confidence score.
- Ask what it does. Use Ask Seek for a simple explanation. If the answer does not match where the part came from, scan it again from another side.
- Measure it. Length, width across the thread, and for tap cartridges the number of teeth on top. Put a ruler in the photo.
- Look for a brand. Check the tap body, the handle, the plate behind a shower handle, or inside the toilet tank lid. Many shower and tap parts only fit their own brand.
- Use Find It. Look for where to buy, repair guides and similar items. Compare the shop photo with your part before you pay.
Quick reference: common plumbing parts and how to recognise them
- Tap cartridge Brass or plastic valve from inside a tap, with teeth on top for the handle and rubber seals at the bottom.
- Tap washer Small flat rubber disc with a hole, from the bottom of the valve in an older tap that you turn several times.
- O-ring Thin rubber ring, round like a cord. It seals the base of a spout or the body of a cartridge.
- Aerator Small round insert with a fine mesh, screwed into the very end of the spout. It makes the water flow soft and even.
- Compression fitting Brass fitting with a nut at each end. Inside each nut is a small brass ring.
- Olive The small brass or copper ring from a compression fitting, also called a ferrule. The nut squeezes it onto the pipe to make the seal.
- Push-fit fitting Plastic or brass fitting with a collar at each opening. The pipe pushes in and locks without tools.
- Flexible connector Short hose covered in woven steel, with a nut at each end. It joins the tap or toilet to the water pipe.
- Isolating valve Small valve in the pipe with a screwdriver slot. Slot in line with the pipe is open; across the pipe is closed.
- P-trap The U-shaped bend under a sink. It holds a little water to stop drain smells coming up.
- Fill valve Tall plastic tower inside the toilet tank with a float. It refills the tank after a flush.
- Flapper Soft rubber flap at the bottom of some toilet tanks, lifted by a chain. A worn one makes the toilet run.
- Thread seal tape Thin white tape on a small roll. It is wrapped around pipe threads to help them seal.
Measure it: what a photo cannot tell you
Plumbing parts come in sizes that look the same in a picture. Three checks save a second trip to the shop.
- Count the teeth. The ring of small teeth on top of a tap cartridge must match the handle. Count them, or mark one tooth and count around.
- Check hot and cold. In many taps with quarter-turn handles, the hot and cold cartridges open in opposite directions. Note which side yours came from.
- Measure the pipe across the outside. In some countries the name of a pipe size is not what a ruler shows. Measure the outside width and tell the shop that number, or take a short offcut with you.
The simplest rule of all: take the old part with you, or keep it next to the screen when you order online.
Honest limits, and when to call a plumber
Seek names the kind of part and helps you look for where to buy it and how to fit it. It cannot measure a thread or confirm that a part fits your tap, and it cannot always read the exact brand or model. A result can be wrong, and the photo is sent to Seek’s servers to be identified. Seek does not give prices or valuations.
Do not work on gas pipes, boilers or water heaters yourself; use a qualified professional. Call a plumber too if you cannot turn the water off, if a pipe inside a wall is leaking, or if a fitting will not stop dripping after you tighten it gently.
If the problem is inside the toilet tank (a running toilet, a fill valve that never stops, a push button that does not flush), see identify a toilet part by photo. Not sure which wrench you are holding? See identify a tool by photo. For the screws that hold a tap handle or a toilet seat, see identify a screw or bolt by photo. For parts of a washing machine, dishwasher or coffee machine, see find a spare part from a photo, and for the fitting instructions, find a user manual from a photo.
Common questions
How do I identify a plumbing part from a photo?
Turn the water off, remove the part, dry it and scan it with Seek. You get a name and a category. Then measure the part and look for a brand name on the tap or toilet so you can match a replacement.
How do I know which tap cartridge to buy?
Count the teeth on top, measure the length and the width across the thread, and note if it came from the hot or the cold side. Check the tap for a brand name. Take the old cartridge with you to compare.
What is the small brass ring inside a pipe fitting?
It is called an olive, or a ferrule. It belongs to a compression fitting. When you tighten the nut, the ring is squeezed onto the pipe and makes the seal.
Why does my toilet keep running?
Often a worn part inside the tank lets water pass: the rubber flapper or seal at the bottom, or the fill valve that refills the tank. Scan the part to get its name, then look for a matching replacement.
