Smoke (fire?) from under dashboard and back to engine compartment

[dterhune]

There was an apparent fire aboard my 2000 Super Air Nautique. The problem is I can’t find any evidence of the fire, and all systems appear to work. Here’s what happened. While going about 35mpg, I started smelling smoke. I looked around a bit and then saw smoke coming from around my feet (I was driving). I’m not sure if it was coming from the heater vents or around them. I stopped the boat, killed the engine, alerted the passengers, and opened the engine compartment lid. I saw smoke coming from the starboard side forward of the engine. It did not appear to be coming from the engine. I believe it was coming from forward under the gunwale. Perhaps drafting back from where I originally saw the smoke. The whole event lasted only about a minute from the time I smelled the fire. I thought perhaps it was one of the two audio amps mounted behind the board under the dash, but the amps appeared to still be working. I suspect the heater system, but the fan is still working. The heater was used not long before the fire, but not at the time of the fire. Call me stupid, but we continued wake boarding for another hour or so with no issues. Does anyone have any idea what it could have been?
Thanks, Daniel

[nukemustang]

when you smelled the smoke, was it smoke like oil/gas burning, or more an electrical (acrid) type odor? or was there no odor at all?? first time using the boat this season?

Is your PME box located under the dash?

[dterhune]

Nuke, thanks for the reply. The smell was more like paper. Kind of like fireworks. So, not black and not oily. There was definitely a smell because that's what alerted me to the problem. Yes, the PME is under the dash. It's outside the kickboard, while everything else is behind it. There are no tripped breakers, and no signs of damage. Perhaps I should take a closer look, though. This was the third use this season.
Daniel

[nyryan2001]

my first thought is always to a grounded out wire that isn't properly fused......

What kind of additions have been done to the boat?

Who did them?

Where are they?

Are they fused within ABYC specs?

Check and recheck all your terminations at the batteries, breaker boxes, amps, Perko, alternator and everything else electrical you can think of. etc etc

If a wire grounded out... or perhaps just a stray hair strand of copper wire worked its way loose at positive terminal somewhere before the fuse... it would get red hot and stay that way till it burned itself up and broke off. If it were a full wire grounded out you'd have burnt your boat to the water line. double check all your positive terminations that are in close proximity to a grounded surface- amps, pumps perko etc etc for stray cooper hairs.

[nyryan2001]

Also could have been something like someone throwing a lifejacket on top of a battery.... and the zipper made contact between the terminals. Don't ask me how I know that one lol.....

[dterhune]

nyryan2001, thanks for the ideas. I agree it seems like an electrical fire. I have seen something similar when a junction box in my home started smoking. It that case, it was caused by a bad connection heating up, not a short (I suspect the source of many house fires). I will inspect all wiring before using the boat again. Thanks