Does running the smoke cause traction tire problems?

That’s sure up for debate. I can say that I don’t run smoke and have never had to replace a tire.  Rarely do I clean track other than around switches. 

Hi Bill in FTL, I have had one experience involving smoke fluid and those tires. It was negative. I had loaded too much smoke fluid into the  smokestack hole of this scale Lionel Dreyfus locomotive  (I still do not know how one can discern with certainty how much fluid is exactly enough,) which unbeknown to me had dribbled inside down onto the drivers. As soon as the locomotive began to move with speed, the tires flew right off, dangling there, drooping and rolling around the axel ends.

No it is just a rumor started by my club's (the Black Diamond Society of Model Engineers) HO guys...........they are always B&Ming about the smoke and sounds on the downstairs 3 rail layout.

JohnB 

Moonsons ,right on. i did same thing recently over filled smokestack  on a lionel Alco c-420 locomotive diesel. off came one of the traction tires. 

Smoke fluid is oil. It, therefore, is understandable that is you overflow your smoke unit the oil could make the tires "slip" off. The questions regarded residue not overflow. When my club runs the layout for 6 or 7 hours non stop during an open house we can see that trains slip on the inclines and the track needs cleaning but to my knowledge, it never caused a tire to come off.

The mineral oil that we call "smoke fluid" is also a SOLVENT to certain vinyl and plastic materials.

Yes, smoke fluid will cause damage to your traction tires.  As stated above it can act as a solvent.  Oil, mineral oil included can cause natural rubber to become soft and expand which leads to wheel slippage and tires rolling off the wheels.

Cleaning your track with Goo Gone will  cause damage to the traction tires as well, unless you remove any residue from the track with denatured alcohol.

If the tires were made of neoprene this would not be the case.

As the repair tech at our LHS, there are many people who overfill smoke units and then bring them back to the store dripping with smoke fluid. They almost always have loose or missing tires, even if the engine was new.

However, many times, its not the customer's fault. Many Lionel diesels drip smoke fluid inside their shells, frames and trucks, no matter how carefully you fill the smoke unit, and regardless of how little liquid you use. The worst offenders are Lionel's poorly designed smoke units utilizing "smoke manifolds" (as they are called on the gensets), or "funnels" as they are called on F3's or other diesels. Liquid soaks that little gasket between the manifold and shell, then just keeps sheeting down the inside of the shell, all over. Many engines also profusely leak where the manifold enters the smoke unit. Anyone with a Lionchief Plus FT knows what I mean - you'll be familiar with smoke fluid slime dripping down your trucks onto the wheels.

I have repaired many of these leaky diesels by coating the perimeter of smoke manifolds with a bead of "Seal-All" adhesive, which resists gas, oil and most solvents, like smoke fluid.

Nobody wants grimy smoke fluid on the track!

If you overfill the smoke unit no matter the manufacture it will leak and cause the problems we are addressing above.  It is not a product specific issue!

I have some of the above referenced locomotives and have had no problem.  If you over fill or over heat any locomotive it will develop leaks.

In my opinion, yes! Since that stuff that exits the stacks (steam or diesel) is NOT actually "smoke", but oil vapors. Thus, what goes up, falls back down onto the track and scenery/buildings, leaving an oil film. I do not use, nor do I allow, smoke on our layout!

Most seasoned train guys do not overflow the smoke unit.  I clean track often and have no input on the posters comments one way or the other.   I would lean on what Hot Water pointed out as a yes it would do that.

I suppose my track would stay cleaner and my tires would get more mileage but I’m not ready to give up smoking just yet!