Camco 57633 90 Degree Brass Flare Elbow, 3/8 Inch

Sometimes the whole install comes down to one small brass fitting. This Camco 90 degree elbow is that part. It takes a 3/8 inch gas line and turns the corner cleanly, so you're not kinking soft copper or fighting a hard angle behind a heater. One end is a 3/8 inch female swivel flare, the other is a 3/8 inch male flare, and the swivel end rotates a full 360 degrees. That rotation is the whole point. You can thread it up, get your seal, and then spin the body to aim the line wherever the run needs to go.

Camco built this one specifically for their Olympian Wave catalytic heaters, the Wave 3, Wave 6, and Wave 8. If you're mounting one of those in an RV, a cabin, or a boat and the gas supply comes in at an awkward angle, this elbow is what gets the connection made without stress on the fitting. It also works for plenty of other low pressure LP gas appliances that use a 3/8 inch flare, so it's a handy part to keep in the spares bin.

We see this fitting go into a lot of winter setups. Someone adds a Wave heater to a truck camper or a sailboat cabin for the shoulder seasons, runs a 3/8 inch line off the LP system, and then realizes the heater's inlet points the wrong way for a straight shot. That's the exact moment this elbow saves the day. The 360 degree swivel means you're not stuck with whatever angle the male flare happens to land at. You snug the nut, rotate the body until the line lies flat and natural, and you're done. No sharp bend that work-hardens and cracks down the road.

Here's the thing about flare fittings, and it trips up first-timers every year. A flare seals metal to metal. The 45 degree cone on the male end mates against the seat inside the female flare nut, and that contact is your seal. So you don't want thread tape or pipe dope on the flare face. Tape belongs on tapered pipe threads, and there aren't any here. Just make sure both flare surfaces are clean and free of grit, snug the nut up by hand, then bring it home with a wrench. Don't gorilla it. Over-torquing a flare can crack the cone and give you the leak you were trying to avoid.

Note the "without shut off valve" in the name. This is a plain elbow, not a valve. It won't turn your gas on and off. If you need a shutoff at this point in the line, that's a separate fitting. What this part does, and does well, is change direction in a tight space while keeping a clean, serviceable flare connection you can break down later without a flaring tool.

It's solid brass, which is exactly what you want on an LP gas line. Brass doesn't rust, it handles the pressure, and it stands up to years of heat cycling near a heater without getting brittle. On a boat especially, where everything fights corrosion, brass earns its place. And it threads onto standard 3/8 inch flare hardware, so it plays nice with the fittings already on most LP systems. We'd still tell you to leak-check every gas connection you make. Brush a little soapy water over the joint with the gas on, watch for bubbles, and you'll know in ten seconds whether the flare seated right.

Bottom line: it's an inexpensive, well-made brass elbow that solves a real routing headache on low pressure propane. If you're servicing an Olympian Wave heater or plumbing any 3/8 inch flare gas line that needs to turn a corner, this is the part. Keep one in the toolbox and you'll be glad it's there the next time a run needs to turn ninety degrees in a tight spot.