mm, okay, well i'm no expert, but maybe we can encircle the problem a bit.
1 ) can you copy usual cds/dvds (as data) off the burner? like the cd/dvd you want to copy with the clone function?
2) does it instantly crash, or somewhere during the image creation process? if so, maybe start running it, and then stop it, before it can crash.
then take a look at the logs, (dmesg, /var/log/everything/current, etc) if something odd comes up.
3) run k3b from console, maybe u are able to see some messages while it is working. (just 'learned' from another problem

)