Hi: Thanks for the reply.
Yes, I did get protein bands in the case where the sample buffer had glycerol (but overran the gel and probably lost the peptides I'm interested in), but got smears where it didn't.
In one experiment I ran both sample buffers in the same gel, and the tracking dye in the one with glycerol disappeared whereas in the other one was visible but did not stack (smeared down the gel).
So it can't be the pH of the gel, otherwise the dye from both buffers should have changed colour.
Its hard to find much literature on these gels or their trouble shooting.
Oh and I got no bands when I just ran the purified peptides that I intend to use as standards even though I ran the gel for a short time to avoid losing them.