Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification; Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport
Aircraft
Upon departing to the southeast; I began to smell something in the cockpit. It was a very faint smell; and my student began to smell it as well. I looked down at our electrical panel and saw smoke beginning to come out. I immediately turned off all of the light switches and began a turn back towards [our departure airport] while advising ATC of the turn around. Upon turning off the electrical switches; the smoke stopped almost immediately; so I decided to leave the rest of our electrical equipment on and come back for a landing. The fire crew noted that there was no hot spot within the aircraft and that we turned off the switches in time to avoid any electrical fire.
C172 Instructor reported smoke in the cockpit that stopped after he turned off the light switches.