What is causing this?

[WRZNE]

This is on a Copystar 5500i.

Only happens off the plate glass. Scanning through the document feeder comes out perfectly. I have asked around to the other technicians around here and nobody has ever seen this. Of course first thing I did was clean it, check all the connections, and upgrade the firmware. I also thought it might be light coming in from outside so I pushed it into a closet with the lights off and it still did it.

I have a picture of the output. I would appreciate any input.
IMG_4521.jpg

[blackcat4866]

Perhaps you've got dirty or dry scanner rails, causing the mirrors to tip while scanning. Or perhaps there's something obstruction the light path, maybe a piece of foam, or on original corner that fell down a crack. =^..^=

[Tonerkiller]

How does the image look? Is it skewed?

[WRZNE]

There was no skew that I noticed however I will be going back in the morning and double check everything that has been mentioned so far.

[Ctl-Alt-Del]

There was no skew that I noticed however I will be going back in the morning and double check everything that has been mentioned so far.

What size/orientation is the paper in your sample photo?
If there was an image in you sample, what would it look like in the area of the defect?
if you scan, how does your image look? verify it's scan and not anything with the print engine.

and like some others have said, check the scanner area, is something blocking or sitting on a rail?

[zoraldinho]

Make a bigger size copy (zoom).If defect proportionally change size with zooming then Blackcat got a point.in case it remains the same it's digital problem like ribbon cable,grounding,board......

[Scottb]

I would do as Blackcat suggested it is probably in the rails or the carriage that contacts the rails. I have seen this once on a old analog canon and it turned out to be a paint locked height adjustment screw on the lens, but I don't think these have that type screw.

[exCSER]

Black cat's suggestion should take you to the cause. The scan lamp doesn't move when using the doc feeder on most models - the document moves over the slit glass. If the only time you see the defect is when copying from the glass, the problem has to be occurring while the scan lamp moves.

[copiertec]

I had a similar issue on a 5500i and it turned out to be the wiring harness to the transfer charge unit was pinched and the connector not inserted completely into the transfer unit. I also cut the plastic harness holders that hold it to the frame because of similar issues, I think they are installed to tight from the factory sometimes and can cause issues. It's worth a look.

[gkalchik]

I may be way off base here, but I had several similar situations with a Ricoh products. Try this: Lift up on the front left corner of the scanner while making the copy and see if it changes the effect. What may be happening is perhaps people leaning on the scanner caused the front to shift slightly downward affecting the light path. I had this happen several times with different model Ricoh's. It may not be an issue with Kyoceras but if the other stuff doesn't work it may be worth a try.