Narrative:

We were on our first flight of the trip and in cruise at 38;000 feet. I was the pilot flying and the first officer was the pilot monitoring. Approximately 1:30 minutes into the flight; I detected a faint odor that initially I thought might be from the air system. I mentioned this to the first officer and then noticed smoke coming from the trip counter on my control wheel. The first officer saw it too and we immediately put on our oxygen masks and smoke goggles and followed the qrc procedure of establishing communications. We followed the qrc which led us to the QRH. We followed the checklist for smoke; fire; fumes; and I also turned the main panel brightness rheostat to off. At that point; the smoke had dissipated and no more smoke was emanating from the trip identification counter.we were able to determine the source; and since the smoke was no longer present; we elected to remove our oxygen masks and smoke goggles to more easily communicate and coordinate our divert. Given our location; we determined which airport was our best place to divert to. We advised with center and were cleared direct to the airport. We were approximately 150 miles from the airport at that point. We notified dispatch of the situation; and the first officer informed the flight attendants of the situation. We told them to secure the cabin and also informed the passengers of the situation and our diverting to ZZZ. The landing was uneventful and no additional smoke was ever noticed. We taxied to the gate and the passengers deplaned normally. One thing a lot of us are guilty of is tapping the trip counter if the backlight is not working. This could unknowingly damage the wiring inside and cause a short which is possibly the cause of the smoke we experienced.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-700 flight crew reported advising ATC and diverting due to smoke in the cockpit during cruise.

Narrative: We were on our first flight of the trip and in cruise at 38;000 feet. I was the Pilot Flying and the First Officer was the Pilot Monitoring. Approximately 1:30 minutes into the flight; I detected a faint odor that initially I thought might be from the air system. I mentioned this to the First Officer and then noticed smoke coming from the trip counter on my control wheel. The First Officer saw it too and we immediately put on our oxygen masks and smoke goggles and followed the QRC procedure of establishing communications. We followed the QRC which led us to the QRH. We followed the checklist for smoke; fire; fumes; and I also turned the MAIN PANEL brightness rheostat to off. At that point; the smoke had dissipated and no more smoke was emanating from the trip ID counter.We were able to determine the source; and since the smoke was no longer present; we elected to remove our oxygen masks and smoke goggles to more easily communicate and coordinate our divert. Given our location; we determined which airport was our best place to divert to. We advised with Center and were cleared direct to the airport. We were approximately 150 miles from the airport at that point. We notified Dispatch of the situation; and the First Officer informed the flight attendants of the situation. We told them to secure the cabin and also informed the passengers of the situation and our diverting to ZZZ. The landing was uneventful and no additional smoke was ever noticed. We taxied to the gate and the passengers deplaned normally. One thing a lot of us are guilty of is tapping the trip counter if the backlight is not working. This could unknowingly damage the wiring inside and cause a short which is possibly the cause of the smoke we experienced.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.