Advantage Business Systems, Xerox Northeast

Why does my copier put lines or streaks on every page?

What causes streaks, bands and lines on copies, how to tell a scanner problem from a drum problem in one test, and what to do about each.

What's actually going on

A thin dark line down every copy in the same place is almost always dirt or correction fluid on the narrow document glass strip used by the feeder, not a fault in the machine.

Repeating marks at a fixed interval down the page point to the drum, the charge roller or the fuser, and the interval identifies which one.

Washed-out banding across the page usually means low toner, a failing developer unit or humidity in the paper.

What to do in the next 48 hours

  1. 1Run the same original from the glass instead of the feeder. If the streak disappears, clean the thin glass strip left of the main platen with glass cleaner and a lint-free cloth.
  2. 2Print the machine's internal test or demo page. If it is clean, the fault is in the scanner path, not the print engine.
  3. 3Try a fresh ream from a sealed pack. Paper that has sat in a damp store room causes banding that looks like a hardware fault.
  4. 4If a repeating defect survives all of that, note the spacing between marks and raise a service call with that measurement.

The honest tradeoffs

  • Cleaning and paper changes solve a genuine majority of streaking calls at no cost, and are worth ten minutes before you book a visit.
  • Continuing to print through a drum defect wastes toner and paper and does not damage anything, so there is no urgency beyond output quality.

Your next step

Rather just talk it through with someone local?

203-777-0011Or request service

Questions people ask next

Why is there a black line on every copy from my copier?
Nearly always dirt, toner or correction fluid on the narrow strip of glass the document feeder scans through. Copy the same page from the main glass instead: if the line disappears, clean that strip with glass cleaner and a lint-free cloth.
What causes repeating marks down a printed page?
A defect on a rotating component. The distance between marks matches the circumference of the part — a short interval points to a charge or developer roller, a longer one to the drum, and the longest to the fuser.

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